The city of Pataliputra: Reading the above we realize that prior to the discovery and translation of Huen Tsangs “Si-Yu-Ki Buddhist Records Of The Western World,” by Samuel Beal which was published in 1906, all sorts of theories abounded in relation to the identification of the site of ancient Pataliputra. But till date none of the actual sites Huen Tsang described have been found in the excavated sites near Patna. Till now there are no traces of Ashokas palace, his first sanghdharma, prince Mahendras hill house, Ashokas first Buddha relic stupa, Ashokas hell or torture chambers, the Ghantaghar stupa, the unbeatable Brahmins house, the rock on which Ashoka fed the monks, the stone with lord Buddhas foot impression on it, the stupa in the name of a medicinal fruit, the pond in which all sins were washed away, and the five extra relic stupas made for the left over relics of the Buddha.

All the above mentioned are found east of Patna in six villages bordering the river Ganges and to north of the Barh National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) power plant close to the subdivisional town of Barh in Patna district. The villages are Dheebar, Sahnoura, Pachmahala, Lemuabad, Railli, Chintamachak, Balam Pokhar, and Pandarak. The power plant and these villages combined together stand on the site of the ancient city of Pataliputra. According to Huen Tsangs description the power plant is definitely on the spot of the old city of Pataliputra. Prince Mehendras hill house is a Hindu temple in Dheebar, the Kali temple in village Sahnoura stands on Ashokas hell; near the Kali temple in the fields lies the rock on which Ashoka fed the monks, the ghanta stupa is in a village called Railli, the Patna to Mokameh highway passes over the stupa named after a medicinal fruit, Ashokas palace is in a village called Pandarak, Ashokas first relic stupa is in Pandarak and is today a sun temple, the rock with the Buddhas foot impression is near the sun temple on the banks of the Ganges, Ashokas first sanghdharma is in village Chintamanchak, and the five Buddha relic stupas are in a village called Pachmahala. I will now give a detailed description of this find.

(1) HUEN TSANG started his tour of the Magadh region from Pataliputra and travelled 450 Li or 79 miles south west to Gaya. Orientalists like Samuel Beal and the others had pinpointed Kumhrar in Patna as Pataliputra which is directly north of Gaya so doesn’t match Huen Tsangs description. It seems the orientalists didn’t think ancient Indians capable of supplying accurate mileage which is why they didn’t do a simple thing as calculate the direction and mileage Huen Tsang supplied to travel from Pataliputra to Gaya. The ancient Chinese pilgrim had traveled 79 miles south west to Gaya so Pataliputra should be north east of Gaya. The Barh NTPC and the five villages north to it, namely Pandarak, Sahnoura, Lemuabad, Railli, Dheebar, Pachmahala is 450 Li’s north east of Gaya. This matches with Huen Tsangs description of Pataliputra.  The city can be described as follows.

(a) The Barh Thermal power station is bang on the old city of Pataliputra. I have come to this conclusion because of my identification of the first Sanghdharma emperor Ashoka built after he suffered a change of heart and became a pious man and the identification of the pond Huen Tsang describes which had the ability to wash away the sins of the bather who bathed in its waters.

(b) Chintamanchak: According to Huen Tsang’s book “Si-Yu-Ki,” in page 95 in the first paragraph the Chinese pilgrim says “To the south east of the old city (Pataliputra, now the Barh NTPC) is the sanghdharma Kiu-cha-o-lan-mo which was built by Ashoka Raja when he first became believer in the religion of the Buddha. It was a sort of first fruit.” Kiu-cha-o-lan-mo is a Chinese mispronunciation of an Indian name. It was Ashokas first sanghdharma after he suffered a change of mind and converted to Buddhism. Today exactly south east of NTPC is the village of Chintamanchak with ruins which Huen Tsang mispronounced as K’iu-cha-o-lan-mo which Samuel Beal translates and further mispronounces as Kukkutarama. Huen Tsangs K’iu-chan-o-lan-mo sounds similar to Chintamanchak so it is safe to identify today’s Chintamanchak village with Huen Tsangs mis-pronounced name. Chintanman in the local Bihari language means to think deeply and decide so the village name itself states that there was a change of mind before he built the sanghdharma.  This village is in the Taal area of Barh subdivision and is prone to floods so people have made their homes on the sanghdharma itself thinking it free high ground. The fact that Huen Tsang states the sanghdharma is south east to the old city and in actuality the village is south east of the thermal power station, the latter can be safely identified as the site of the city of Pataliputra itself.

(c) Balam Pokhar: Huen Tsang writes about a pond to the southwest of the old city of Pataliputra. It is next to some low rocky high ground which unfortunately has been land filled by the power plant to make a temple. Half of the pond still exists. I will quote the last chapter of page 93 of Si-Yu-Ki. “By the side of it is an old tower, the ruins of which are a massed of heaped up stones. There is also a pond, the gentle ripples of which play over its surface as pure as a mirror. The people far and near call it the sacred water. If anyone drinks thereof or washes in it, the defilement of their sins is washed away and destroyed.” The reader will realize according to Huen Tsang south west to the old city of Pataliputra there is a pond where after bathing in it people’s sins are washed away. Today south west of the NTPC power plant there is a revered pond by the name of Balam pokhar where people come and bath. It is believed that the pond and its mud water cures skin diseases. This pond tallies with Huen Tsangs description and helps us mark the Barh NTPC power plant to be standing on the remains of the city of Pataliputra. The pond is in danger of being land filled for building purposes. Villagers requested me that it was a holy site and to stop the land filling.  Together the pond and the village of Chintamanchak can safely identify the site of the power plant as the site of Huen Tsangs old city of Pataliputra.

(d) The old palace and Ashokas hell: According to Huen Tsang an old palace was north of the city of Pataliputra so this palace should be north of the thermal power plant. To the north of the palace he made a hell or torture chamber. I will quote the last chapter of page 85 of “Si-Yu-Ki.” He writes,“To the north of the old palace of the king is a stone pillar several tens of feet high; this is the place where Ashoka Raja made a hell.” The Chinese traveler then describes the hell or torture chambers king Ashoka made to torture people. I have located that hell which is now under a Kali temple in village Sahnoura which is adjacent to Pandarak village. There are intricately carved rocks and artifacts there that could belong to a torture chamber. One looked like a guillotine. The pillar Huen Tsang had described is wedged within the western wall of the Kali temple. It isn’t as high as Huen Tsang described it. This is natural as it must have been attacked by King Shashank who had a habit of persecuting Buddhists, pulling down Ashokan pillars, and chopping them into small Shiva Lingas. The temple is on high ground and villagers say that artifacts are procured whenever someone digs in its premises or in the surrounding area. I am sure excavation of the site will produce the torture chambers. The villages name Sahnoura in the rural Bihari dialect of that area itself means to ‘bear great pain in hell.’ It also sounds similar to Sramna who is the main character in Huen Tsangs story of the torture chamber.

 (e) Ashokas first Buddha Relic stupa: Huen Tsang further goes on to describe King Ashokas first relic stupa to house the Buddhas relics. This stupa helps us identify Ashokas palace itself. I will quote the last chapter of page 87 of the Chinese traveler’s journal “Si-Yu-Ki.” He says, “to the south of the earth prison and not far off is a stupa. Its foundation walls are sunk and its in a leaning ruinous condition. There remains however, the crowning jewel of the cupola. This is made of carved stone and has a surrounding balustrade. This was the first (or one) of the 84000 (stupas). Ashoka Raja erected it by the power of man in the middle of his royal precinct.” Exactly north east of the NTPC power plant is the village of Pandarak which I believe stands on King Ashokas palace itself. In the middle of the village is King Ashokas first relic stupa with the Buddhas relics in it which today is a Hindu sun temple. The temple is on high ground which is the stupa itself. I have seen a lot of Ashokan stupas in my explorations so I regard myself as the only authority on Ashokan stupas in the world till date. I recognized the gradual incline to the sanctum sanctorum of the sun temple which is nothing else but the cupola Huen Tsang described. Huen Tsangs story of the capture of the sun by Upagupta and the local folk lore of the sun temple of Pandarak village are very similar. According to Huen Tsang after King Ashoka got 84000 stupas constructed to house the relics of the Buddha he wanted the relics to be lowered into all the stupas at the same time. Upagupta tells him to advise his men to watch the sun and as soon as it sets during the day to insert the relics into the stupas. Thus the relics would be inserted in all the stupas at the same time. The people obeyed and one day Upagupta covered the sun during the day so everyone, where ever they were, inserted the relics into the stupas. The modern day story of Pandarak sun temple is the same. Punya Baba is the reigning deity of the village. It is said that one day he caused the sun to set during daytime right above the stupa or the modern day sun temple. Modern day villagers don’t know that relics were immersed in the stupa. They simply believe that Punda Baba dug a hole five thousand feet down and immersed some sort of machine to control the sun.  Huen Tsang goes on to describe the stupas cupola. When he visited the stupa, it had tilted. The cupola was the saving grace. It is today preserved in the sun temples sanctum sanctorum and prayed to as the sun God. The villagers have surrounded the cupola with new marble and pray to it. The ancestors of the local priest where brought here by Sakraditya Raja who made the first Sanghdharma in Nalanda. I suspect the village alley that travels around the stupa is the ancient parikrama. And since Huen tsang states the stupa is in the middle of the royal precincts, that means the colony to the right of the parikrama or to the right of the colony alley that travels around the stupa (sun temple) is on top of King Ashokas palace itself.

(f) Koyla Rani: Huen Tsang goes on to describe a rock with the Buddhas footmark on it. He said it was near the stupa on the banks of the Ganges. I will quote the second paragraph of page 90 of his journal “Si-Yu-Ki.” He says, “By the side of the stupa and not far from it, in a vihara, is a great stone on which Tathagat walked. There is still the impressions of both his feet on it, about eighteen inches long and six inches broad, both the right and left impress have the circle sign, and ten toes are all infringed with the figures of flowers and forms of fishes which glisten brightly in the light.” In the village on the banks of the Ganges is a bunch of intricately carved rocks with Lord Buddhas footmark on it just as Huen Tsang had described. The villagers call it Koyla Rani. Lord Buddha stood on this rock and looked for the last time at Magadh when he crossed the Ganges on his way to Khushinagar. Villagers do not touch it. They don’t know what it is but revere it and occasionally pull out the grass that grows around it. On one rock you can see half the footmark of the Buddha just as Huen Tsang described. The rock is in pieces just as Huen Tsang described. He tells the story of how King Shashank broke it to pieces and threw it into the river. Legend has it that the rock jumped back onto land so the villagers fear it and refuse to touch it.  So basically the stupa or the sun temple, the stupas cupola, and the rock on the banks of the Ganges are ample proof of the site around them being that of King Ashokas palace.

(g) Rock on which Ashoka fed Bhikshus: Huen Tsang describes a huge flat rock with a hollow in which King Ashoka kept food for the Bhikshus. According to him this rock was between the hell he made to kill people and the relic stupa. I will quote the third last chapter of page 93 of his journal “Si-Yu-Ki.”  He says, “To the north of the old palace and to the south of the hell, is a great stone with a hollow trough in it. Ashoka raja commissioned the Genii as workmen to make this hollow to use for the food which he gave to the priests when he invited them to eat.” In the fields between the Kali temple in Sahnoura village and the stupa in Pandarak  is a huge flat rock with a hollow in which Ashoka kept food to feed the monks. It is just as Huen Tsang described. The villagers showed me the rock though they didn’t know what it was for. British Indigo planters used it to dry their Indigo.

(h) Lemuabad: Near the first Sanghdharma or the village of Chintamachak is a stupa named after the name of a fruit used as a medicine. I will quote the second chapter of page 95 of “Si-Yu-Ki.” Huen Tsang says, “By the side of the sanghdharma is a great stupa called O-mo-lo-kia, (amalaka) which is the fruit named as the medicine of India.” The stupa was constructed after Ashoka recuperated from grave illness. Huen Tsang Calls it O-mo-lo-kia. Samuel Beal says it is the Amla fruit and translates O-mo-lo-kia as  the Amalaka fruit. But this fruit is not available in this area. The medicinal fruit used in this area is Lemu or lime. Today near  Chintamanchak village which is the first sanghdharma is the village of Lemuabad which is on top of a stupa. Lemuabad means life after eating a lime and sounds similar to Huen Tsangs O-mo-lo-kia. Unfortunately people have settled on top of all the stupas in this area as it is a flood prone zone. The Mokameh to Patna highway used this mud mound or stupa so the highway passes over it right through the middle of Lemuabad village. It is clear this stupa was a commemorative stupa to commemorate King Ashokas recuperation from grave illness.

(i) Railli: Huen Tsang says northwest of the O-mo-lo-kia (Modern day Lemuabad) stupa in the middle of an old sanghdharma is a stupa that is called “establishing the sound of the ghanta.” I will quote the last para of page 96 of Si-Yu-Ki. “To the north west of the Amalaka stupa, in the middle of an old sanghdharma, is a stupa; it is called ‘establishing the sound of the ghanta (kin-ti).’” From this paragraph we realize religious debates took place between Buddhists and Hindus here. Every time the Buddhists won the bell would ring making a din informing the people of Pataliputra of the victory. Today northwest of Lemuabad village is a village called Railli. Like Lemuabad it is on top of a stupa. The name itself means to make a din. The local folklore in the village is that debates took place here. According to Huen Tsang the heretics (Hindus) once won the debate for 14 years in a row. They didn’t allow the bell to ring until a disciple of Nagarjuna came from south India and challenged the heretics (Hindus) to a debate and won. The bell once more rang. Sadly that very same bell was stolen forty years ago or we would have still had it.

(j) Feared Brahmins house: Huen Tsang further goes on to say north of the Ghanta (bell) stupa was the abode of a feared learned Brahmin who was undefeatable in debate. I will quote the single line of the last chapter in page 99 of Huen Tsangs “Si-Yu-Ki.” He says, “To the north of the stupa built where the ghanta was sounded is an old foundation. This is the dwelling place of a Brahmin that was inspired by demons.” A learned Buddhist whom Samuel Beal calls Asvaghosha defeats the Brahmin and silences him. Today on that spot north of Railli village or the ghanta stupa is a Hindu temple called Jagdamba sthan where they pray to Balbir Das a great Brahmin who built many temples all over north India.

(k) (1) Pachmahala: According to Huen Tsang when King Ashoka made 84000 stupas some of Buddhas relics were left so Ashoka made five more stupas to house  the remaining relics. To quote the second paragraph of page 94 of Huen Tsang’s “Si-Yu-Ki” he says, “To the south west of the mountain is a collection of five stupas. The foundation are lofty but ruinous; what remains however, is a good height. At a distance they look like little hills. Each of them is several tens of paces in front. Men in after days tried to build on top of these little stupas. The records of India state, ‘in old times when Ashoka Raja built the 84000 stupas, there was still remaining five measures of relics. Therefore he erected with exceptional grandeur five other stupas, remarakable for their spiritual portents. With a view to indicate the fivefold spiritual body of the Buddha.” This is easily found next to Railli stupa. There is a village called Pach Mahala. In English Pach Mahala means five palaces. There are no palaces here and locals wonder why it got the name. The village is made up of five colonies situated on five mud mounds which are the stupas.  Huen Tsang and I have solved a local riddle. Why this village is called Pachmahala. (2) Sahari: Unfortunately Pach Mahala village doesn’t lie south west of the stone house. And since I have full faith in Huen Tsangs accuracy the second option is the five mud mounds in Sahari village next to a lake. Here too, like the Pandarak Buddha relic stupa, the Sahari village stupa is a sun temple. So it is definitely a Buddha relic stupa with a similar story of the Pandarak Buddha relic stupa. This is also most probably Huen Tsangs five Ashokan Buddha relic stupas.

(j) According to Huen Tsang emperor Ashoka loved his brother Mahendra. The latter was a recluse who enjoyed meditating in the solitude of hills. Ashoka wanted his brother to live by him so he got a mountain house built which looked like a hill. This is what Huen Tsang writes in the second paragraph of page 93 in his journal “Si-Yu-Ki.” He says, “The king said if you wish to subdue your heart in quiet, you have no need to live in the mountain fastnesses. To meet your wishes I will construct you a dwelling. Accordingly, he summoned the Genii to his presence and said to them. On the morrow I am about to give a magnificent feast. I invite you to come together to the assembly but you must each bring for your own seat a great stone.” King Ashoka then goes on to make the Genii build a hilly room with the stone they brought along. This was for his brother Mahendra. I located that rocky house in a village called Dheebar which is North West to NTPC on the banks of the Ganges. Today there is a Thakubari or Shiva temple on top of that hill house. It is on the banks of the Ganges and is called Dheebar. The villages name is also Dheebar which itself implies a rocky lonely high ground. This is what it means in the local Bihari language. The villagers say the temple was originally made of rocks and the new temple was made on top of the old rocky one. They say it is Khandani which in Hindi means royal lineage. This is why I identified this temple with King Ashokas rocky mountain house. Royal lineage or Khandani meant it was his.

(k) In addition to Dheebar there is a holy bathing spot which carries mahendars name. That is Mahenderghat. It has the house of the Genii's which is the name Huen Tsang gives king Ashokas engineers. The rocks can be found here.

(L) According to Huen Tsang the city of Pataliputra was huge, approximately 70 Li’s or 63000 feet round.  By ‘round’ Huen Tsang means length and breadth of the city and not measurements in square feet. So basically I have found all the ten places Huen Tsang described as parts of ancient Pataliputra city. If we take the entire length of NTPC power plant which is on the city itself and the villages north to it. I mean the villages of Pandarak, Railli, Lemuabad, Sahnoura, Pachmahala and Dheebar, the entire area covered by these places equals to 63000 feet in length and breath. From this area we get an idea on how huge Pataliputra was. This area is definitely Huen Tsangs Pataliputra.

I have described in detail all the spots that Huen Tsang visited in the ancient city of Pataliputra. We must remember that Huen Tsang had seen a degenerated decaying old city which was on the downswing. The huge colonies seem to have disappeared leaving behind six to seven tiny villages. You can view the places described in the above report of the city in my Youtube channel “Buddha Exhumed.” There are ten videos of ten places I discovered amongst them one is on Pataliputra. For further proof that the area under Barh NTPC and the villages north to it was Pataliputra we must take note of the distance and bearing of the city in relation to Gaya. As previously stated Huen Tsang travelled 450 Li’s south west from Pataliputra to Gaya. That will be 80 miles south west to Gaya. If you measure the distance of Barh NTPC from Gaya, the mileage is exactly 80 miles south west from the power plant to the town of Gaya. I will describe the route he takes. 

Here is the link to the video I made of the sites that are Huen Tsangs Pataliputra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl7wqjowcMc&t=25s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl7wqjowcMc&t=1771s

chhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6PchmC6eOsmC6eOs

Maha Mougliyayas birth place and his relic stupa, This is in Khushiyalpur village village near Hathiyama village where the Buddha met king Bimbisara after he gained enlightenment.. Huen Tsang calls this place Ku-li-kia. The entire town is settled on the Ashokan stupa which marks the spot Maha Mougliyayas house once was. His relics are enshrined in a stupa on a hillock nearby. According to Huen Tsang Kiu-li-kia was 9 li's or two and a half kilometers south east from the southern gate of Nalanda sangharama. This is in Keur village. He further states Ku-li-kia was 5 Li or one kilometer to the west of Hathiyama. Modern day Khushiyalpur village fulfills all this. So folks enjoy the first video of Maha Mougliyayas village and his relic stupa.

Sariputras village and relic stupa: Okay, this is my discovery of Sariputras villag. In the village is an Ashokan stupa that marks the place where his house once stood. Near the village on a hillock is Sariputras relic stupa. For more details read my book "Buddha Exhumed" where I discover lost Buddhist cities in Bihar.  The Ashokan stupa that marks the place of Sariputras birth has been half dug up for mud filling on the road. It has to be salvaged. It is a priceless piece of Buddhist history. This find negates Alexander Cunninghams report on his finds in Sanchi. he had claimed that he found Sariputras and Maha Mougliyayas relics in the Sanchi stupa. Sariputras relics are in the stupa in the video according to Huen Tsangs report. Then how did Cunningham and gang retrieve sariputras relics from Sanchi. This is a case to be investigated. Here is the report I gave to the Archaeological survey of India pertaining Sariputras village and relic stupa.

(42)Kodihara village/Kia-lo-pi-na-kia (Si-Yu-Ki page177 to 179) From the Hathiyama stupa or the stupa made by king Bimbisara, Huen Tsang traveled twenty Li’s or five and a half kilometers south east to the village of Kodhihara. I will quote the second paragraph of page 177 of his journal Si-Yu-Ki. He says, “South east from the spot where Bimbisara met Buddha, at a distance of about 20 li, we come to the town of Kalapinaka (Kia-lo-pi-na-kia). In this town is a stupa that was built by Ashoka Raja. This is the place where Sariputra, the venerable one, was born. The well of the place still exists. By the side of the place is a stupa. This is where the venerable one obtained nirvana; the relics of his body are therefore enshrined therein.” Huen Tsang calls the village  Kiu-lo-pi-na-kia and Samuel Beal calls it Kalapinaka. Huen Tsangs Kiu’lo-pi-na-kia sounds similar to the village called Kodihara. The peculiarity of this name is it is written Kodihara but pronounced Kolihara so matches Huen Tsangs mis-pronounced Kiu-lo-pi-na-kia. I visited the village and realized it was populated by Bumihar Brahmins. I found the two stupas. The Ashokan stupa was just outside the village next to a mango grove and was half destroyed. Half the stupas mud had been excavated by an excavator for earth filling on the village road. Huen Tsang had described an ancient well near the stupa. The well is there but the walls have been plastered in an attempt to make it look new. Today the well is defunct. I videographed the well. West of the village on a hillock is enshrined the relics of Sariputra in a mammoth sized stupa. It looks magnificent and is very high. It has mud plastered around the hillock and rocks the size of a palm covering the hillock to make it into a perfect circle. According to Huen Tsang when Sariputra heard of the forecast of the  Buddhas death he asked the latter for permission to die first. He was granted permission so he died in the seclusion of this hillock. From this stupa you can see the stupa that has enshrined in it the relics of Sariputra’s favorite disciple. These stupas are important as they belong to important Buddhist personalities. They also strengthen Huen Tsangs claim that the area beteen Keur and Panhar village is the actual Nalanda sanghdharma. The video of the village and stupas can be viewed in my youtube channel “Buddha Exhumed.”

Heres the link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AZtNJVmpEg&t=1s

The real Bodh Gaya and the Bodhi tree: The Bodhi tree died in 1872 and was replaced by a sapling by Alexander Cunningham. The present site of the Maha Bodhi temple in Bodh Gaya isn't the original one. The original place where the Bodhi tree once stood is to the east of present day Bodh Gaya north of the village of Bakraur. The present site simply doesn't fit into Huen Tsangs description. According to Huen Tsang the Bodhi tree was surrounded by several stupas. It was surrounded by a boundary wall approximately 400 feet from east to west and 200 feet from north to south. South west of the Bodhi tree was the Sujata stupa. So the Bodhi tree should be north east of the stupa. South of the Bodhi tree was the two little stupas where the girls boiled the kheer and Sujata gave the kheer to the Buddha. The two stupas are there lying neglected so that means the Bodhi tree should be north of them. Instead the ASI have marked the stupa which was the grass cutters stupa as the one where the girls boiled the kheer and gave it to the Buddha to eat. All this should be corrected. The remains of the original Ashokan vihara is north of Bakraur village. According to Huen Tsang this vihara was outside the eastern gate of the Bodhi tree boundary wall. here is the report I gave to the Archaeological survey of India.

(9) Bodh Gaya with the Bodhi tree. (Si-Yu-Ki pages 115 to 136) This will be a deadly shock and surprise to most historians. Like in the case of Pataliputra which I have described above, no one has attempted to cross check the finds of the British historians who identified all the places Huen Tsang visited. The mistake Indian historians did was to treat the findings and conclusions of Britisher’s as the bible or final word of ancient Indian history. A cursory glance at Huen Tsangs journal “Si-Yu-Ki Buddhist records of the Western World,” will alert the reader. First and foremost I would like to drive home a point. Buildings, trees and other structures may die, wither, and disappear, but stupas are immortal. They are mud mounds which live forever. They live on to tell their tale. It is as though dead men are talking. I base my searches of Buddhist spots mainly according to the position of stupas. We all know it was Huen Tsangs and Fa Heins writings that the great British orientalists treated as the bible for ancient Buddhist Indian history. A simple reading of Huen Tsangs account of Bodh Gaya and the Bodhi tree will arouse suspicion on the sites identified by Cunningham, Col Waddell and other orientalists. The buildings have disappeared and trees are long gone dead. The stupas are alive to tell their tale. I searched for the stupas and found the real area where the Bodhi Tree once was. The following are a few of the clues supplied to us by Huen Tsang that are a must to identify the spot where the Bodhi tree and the Mahabodhi temple were. These are missing in the present day Bodhi tree and the Mahabodhi temple but are found elsewhere.

(a) First and foremost we must remember that Huen Tsang had stated the Bodhi tree was surrounded by a boundary wall 500 paces round. I will quote the third paragraph of page 115 of his journal “Si-Yu-Ki.” He says “Going south west from Mount Pragbodhi about 14 or 15 Li we come to the Bodhi tree. It is surrounded by a brick wall of considerable height steep and strong. It is long from east to west and short from north to south. It is about 500 paces round. The principal gate opens east to the Narayani river. The southern gate adjoins a great flowery bank. The northern gate opens into the great Sanghdharma.” According to Huen Tsangs quote the boundary wall of the Bodhi tree will be 500 paces which is equal to twelve hundred and fifty feet in length and breadth (note the measurement isn’t in square feet). He further states it is longer from east to west and shorter from north to south. So twelve hundred and fifty feet in length and breadth will be huge. Take for example 400 ft long and 225 ft broad. That will be approximately 90,000 sq ft which is approximately three acres. The present day wall around the Bodhi tree is only a quarter the size of what Huen Tsang described and there is no great Sanghdharma outside the northern gate of the present boundary wall.

Then Huen Tsang describes the distance of the Bodhi tree from Mount Pragbodhi which is the Dungeshwari hills of today. He says it is 14 to 15 Li’s distant which is roughly equivalent to 4 kilometers. The catch lies here. From which point of the Dungeshwari hills does Huen Tsang take the measurement of 15 Li’s to the Bodhi tree. If one takes the measuring point of the south western tip of the Dungeswari hills then the 15 Li ends up safely on the spot where the Bodhi Tree is today. It seems Cunningham, Waddell, and the other British explorers did this mistake. I don’t believe the Chinese traveler had the time and energy to walk five kilometers to the south western tip to take the measurement from there to the Bodhi tree. I strongly believe that he took measurements from the point he climbed onto the Dungeshwari hill and the point he climbed down the hill. That will be the point below the Dungeshwari cave. Fifteen Li’s south east from the ground below the Dungeshwari hill is the area around Bakraur village which is a sort of an Island between two rivers. A particular spot near this village and near the eastern river matches the sketch made by Fa Hein of the Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree right on the banks of the Niranjana with the Dungeshwari hills to the left of his left shoulder. This sketch gives us a pretty accurate visual picture of the proximity of the south western tip of the Dungeshwari hills with Fa Heins and Huen Tsangs Bodhi tree. The problem of measuring from a particular point of a long range of hills also foxes historical explorers searching for the spots Huen Tsang visited northwest of the Rajgir hills which is thirty three kilometers long travelling slightly south west from Giriak to Titua. This is why till date historians never found the villages and relic stupas of Sarbhada, Sariputra, Mogliyana,  who were the Buddha’s most important disciples. Neither were they able to find the real Nalanda Sanghdharma which they wrongly identified with the Odantupra sanghdharma. I was also foxed for five months and was searching for these places. But like the Dungeshwari hills when I put the measurement at a point marked Natsar in satellite pictures which was where Huen Tsang most probably climbed the Indrasaila Guha mountain and descended it. From that point I was able to locate Sarbhada’s, Sariputra’s, and Mogliyana’s villages and stupas as well as the original and actual Nalanda Sanghdharma. I used the same principle in my search for the spot where the Bodhi tree once was. I measured 15 Li’s or 4 kilometers from the point below the Dungeshwari cave. If one chooses the site in Bakraur, then all the places described by Huen Tsang fall into place and can be traced.

 (f) I will start with the most important stupa that is pivotal in identifying Huen Tsangs Bodhi tree and King Ashokas Mahabodhi vihara. That is the Sujata stupa marking the place where Sujatas house was. She was the girl who boiled milk and fed the Buddha kheer or rice milk. I will quote the second paragraph of page 127 of his journal “Si-Yu-Ki.” Huen Tsang writes, “At the south west of the Bodhi Tree, outside the walls, there is a stupa, this is where the old house of the two shepherd girls stood who offered the rice milk to the Buddha. By the side of it is another stupa where the girls boiled the rice; by the side of this stupa Tathagat received the rice.” The Sujata stupa marking the spot of Sujatas house was excavated in the years 1973-74 and 2001 and 2004 in the area that is now called Bakraur. This stupa is two kilometers to the east of the present day Bodhi tree and is across the river. You can read about the Sujata stupa in Wikipedia. A plaque dated 8-9 CE reads “Devpala Rajasya Sujata Griha.” As soon as this stupa was excavated historians should have been alerted to the authenticity of the Bodhi Tree and mahabodhi vihara in the present day Bodh Gaya as these places don’t have any such stupa around them or anywhere near them. Huen Tsang clearly states this stupa was outside the south west corner of the Bodhi tree wall. So the stupa was to the south west of the Bodhi tree. Naturally that would mean the Bodhi tree was to the north east of the Sujata stupa. This is the area in Bakraur on the banks of the river with the Dungeswari hills just across the river. Orientalists and Indian historians previously marked the Sujata stupa as the Ganda Hasti stupa or the stupa of the scented elephant that Huen Tsang said was across the Narayani river east of the Bodhi tree. So now since the Ganda hasti stupa has been identified as the Sujata stupa, the ganda hasti stupa should be searched for on the Dungeshwari hill side of the river south of the hills. Unfortunately till date no one has attempted this. Today there is no Sujata stupa anywhere around the present day Bodhi tree or Mahabodhi vihara. The Sujata stupa is across the river to the east of the Bodhi tree. This doesn’t match Huen Tsangs description at all because the Bodhi tree should be to the north east of Sujata’s stupa.

(f) There are more stupas that help pinpoint the site where the Bodhi tree once stood. Huen Tsang further states in the second paragraph of page 127 of his journal Si-Yu-Ki which I have quoted above. He says, “by the side of it (Sujata Stupa) is another stupa where the girls boiled rice; by the side of this stupa Tathagat received the rice.” In Bakraur, approximately 100 meters to the east of Sujatas stupa which marks the place where her house was, there are two small neglected stupas. One is bigger than the other and the big one has a small temple at the western side of the stupa. The remains of the plinth of a boundary wall surround’s both the stupas. According to me the smaller stupa is the spot where the two girls boiled milk and next to it is the bigger stupa where the girls offered the Buddha kheer. The river is 100 feet to the east of this stupa. Unfortunately these stupas are neglected and one hundred feet to the south of these is the base of a big stupa which has been wrongly called the Sujata temple and wrongly identified as where the girls boiled rice and Sujata offered kheer. This should be corrected. The angle of the two neglected stupas clearly states that the Bodhi tree should be within a hundred fifty meters to their north with the river within a hundred feet to the east. There are no such stupas south of the present day Bodhi tree.

(b) Huen Tsang further says there are stupas in every corner of the boundary wall. I will quote the first paragraph in page 127 of his journal “Si_Yu-Ki.” He says, “Within the walls of the Bodhi tree at each of the four angles is a great stupa.” This statement made by Huen Tsang  is to be taken seriously as stupas don’t die easily. I can vouch that for Ashokan stupas as I now regard myself an authority on that type of stupa. The Bodhi tree is long gone dead but stupas are immortal. In the village of Bakraur one hundred and fifty meters north of the two neglected stupas are boundary walls on land bought by foreigners. I couldn’t explore this area properly as most of the land here has been bought up by foreign monasteries who are fighting law suits with locals so the gates are closed. This has to be looked into. The present day Bodhi tree does not have these stupas around it so we can safely say the site simply doesn’t match Huen Tsangs description. The walled area north to the two neglected stupas should be thoroughly explored. The stupas with the remains of the Bodhi tree boundary wall will be found there. I am sure about that. The stupas tell me that.

(c)Huen Tsang then states the main entrance in the boundary wall is in the eastern gate facing the Niranjana river. This is in the third paragraph of page 115 of his journal “Si-Yu-Ki,” which I have previously quoted. In the present case the main entrance is from the north of the Bodhi tree.

(d) Huen Tsang goes on to state King Ashoka’s Vihara was to the eastern gate of the boundary wall. It was 160 ft high and fifty feet in length and breath. In the Bodh Gaya of today the Bodhi tree is outside the south western wall of the Mahabodhi temple. And the Bodhi tree isn’t the original one. Dr Buchanon Hamilton saw it in its prime in 1811, it had decayed by 1876 when Alexander Cunningham saw it. It finally died in 1881 causing Cunningham to plant a sapling on the same spot. So the Bodhi tree isn’t the original one. In my explorations I have realized the Bodhi tree is long gone dead. Wherever the Bodhi tree was it should be surrounded by the remains of a twelve hundred and fifty feet boundary wall with stupas within all its four corners and the Mahabodhi vihara to the east of the tree. I found the ruins of a vihara without a roof or a steeple to the north of the two neglected stupas I had mentioned above and which I believe are the stupas where Sujata boiled the milk and offered the Buddha kheer. South west to that ruined vihara is the Sujata stupa that marks the spot where Sujata’s house was. Fifty meters to the east of that vihara is the river with the south western tip of the Dungeshwari hill on the other side. And Huen Tsangs description of Ashokas vihara makes the ruined vihara I saw a strong contender for the Ashokan vihara Huen Tsang described. It is around fifty feet in length and breadth and has an inner chamber fifty feet long and three feet broad along the southern wall. There are two niches like chambers on both sides of the fifty foot long eastern wall. I will quote the third paragraph of page 118 of Si-Yu-Ki. “To the east of the Bodhi tree there is a vihara 160-170 feet high. Its lower foundation wall is twenty or more paces in its face. The building is of blue tiles covered with chunam.” As stated earlier the ruined vihara I saw where I suspected the Bodhi tree once stood was fifty feet in length and breadth which is twenty paces in length and breadth just as Huen Tsang described. In the first paragraph in line four of page 119 of Si-Yu-Ki, Huen Tsang continues, “Its somber chambers and mysterious halls have doors in each of the three stories. To the right and left of the outside gates are niches like chambers. In the left is a figure of Avalokiteshwara and in the right a figure of Maitriya Bodhisatva.” This is just as I had described the eastern wall of the ruined vihara. It had two small temple like chambers which Huen Tsang calls niches on each corner of the wall. The vihara didn’t have a steeple or a roof which I expected as normal. Historians have failed to discuss the total annihilation of Buddhism from this land. This religion was totally wiped out to the extent that the people living in Pataliputra didn’t know it was Pataliputra. So was the case of Bodh Gaya till the British historians told them. Historians haven’t taken into account the massive brainwashing that occurred causing a strong religion such as Buddhism to be totally forgotten. During that brain washing all major Buddhist sites were wiped out clean. I mean forgotten. So it was natural that the ruined vihara was roofless or steepleless. It was attacked and destroyed by people like Shashank. We know about Shashank because Huen Tsang wrote about him. What about the multitude of others who must have behaved like him. Historians haven’t looked at the present day Mahabodhi vihara in Bodh Gaya from this angle. If it was the actual Buddhist site how did this monument survive that brainwashing? That too with its 160 foot high steeple intact. This proves it was a Hindu structure which wasn’t attacked by vandals. The fact that the ruined vihara I saw near the Dungeshwari hills was steepleless proves it was a Buddhist monument that had been physically assaulted. And the final clue to the ruined vihara being Ashokas vihara is the three feet broad and fifty feet long chamber along the southern wall I saw and video graphed in the ruins. According to the story Huen Tsang narrates King Shashank after destroying the Bodhi tree wanted the figure of the Buddha to be removed from the Ashokan vihara and replaced by one of Mahesvara-Deva. The officer felt guilty as he was a Buddhist so he ordered a wall to be made covering the figure of the Buddha and a picture of Maheswara-Deva made on it. I will quote the last paragraph of page 121 of Si-Yu-Ki. “On this he called to his presence a man with a believing heart to help him, and sent him to build up across the chamber and before the figure of Buddha a wall of brick. The man from a feeling of shame from the darkness, placed a burning lamp; and on the interposing wall he drew a figure of Mahesvara-Deva.” This paragraph clearly states why the three by fifty feet chamber existed behind the southern wall of the ruined vihara. The chamber housed the Buddhas statue hiding it from Hindu vandals. I personally think this is a strong contender for the real Buddhist Ashokan vihara.

(f) Huen Tsang goes on to say to the south of the Sanghdharma is the Muchalinda lake which is 700 paces round. That will be around 1750 ft in length and breath. There was another lake to the south of this. I will quote the second paragraph of page 127 of Huen Tsangs journal “Si-Yu-Ki.” He says, “Outside the south gate of the Bodhi tree is a great tank about 700 paces round, the water of which is clear and pure as a mirror.” In todays Bodh Gaya the south of the Bodhi tree is a lake which is hardly five hundred feet in length and breath. This also doesn’t match Huen Tsangs description. 

(g) Huen Tsang says to the south of the Bodhi tree boundary wall King Ashoka made a 100 foot high stupa to mark the spot where the grass cutter gave grass to the Buddha to sit on. I will quote the last paragraph of page 123 of Si-Yu-Ki. “Not far to the south of the Bodhi tree is a stupa about a hundred feet high, which was built by Ashoka Raja.” Huen Tsang goes on to narrate why the stupa was built. It was built to commemorate the event of the grass cutter giving the Buddha grass to sit on. Once again there is no such stupa south of the present day Bodhi tree or the Mahabodhi vihara. This is a serious anomaly that goes against the present day Mahabodhi vihara. As I stated earlier stupas do not die. The base of such a stupa will never die. It should be somewhere nearby. It isn’t anywhere around the present day Mahabodhi vihara. There is the foundation of such a stupa to the south of the ruined vihara I just described. The foundation is just one hundred feet to the west of the river with the Dungeshwari hill on the other side.

 (h) Proximity of the Bodhi tree to the Niranjana river and the south eastern tip of Dungeshwari hills is shown in Fa Heins sketch of the Buddha sitting under the tree. This also doesn’t match the distance of the present day Bodhi tree and the Dungeshwari hills.

In my exploring in different places I have realized that buildings may die but stupas have an eternal life. Buddhist Stupas will always help mankind identify the correct places because they are simple mud mounds which nature or man doesn’t bother to destroy. The above mentioned stupas can all be found on the eastern side of the Falgu river and to the west  of the other river bordering the south western tip of the Dungeshwari hill. The area between the two rivers is called Bakraur. This areas proximity to the Dungeshwari hills matches that of Fa Heins sketch. The spot I suspect where the Bodhi tree once stood is north east to the Sujata stupa that marks the spot which was Sujatas house. The ruined vihara I saw was to the east of where the Bodhi tree once stood. East of Sujatas stupa is a small stupa that I suspect is the stupa where Sujata boiled milk. Next to it is a slightly bigger stupa with a temple next to it where Sujata offered the Buddha milk. South of the spot where I suspect the Bodhi tree once stood is a stupa with a strong base on which the ASI has wrongly identified with the stupa where Sujata offered the Buddha Kheer. The present day Sujata temple stands on that stupas base. The strong base of the stupa itself implies that it was the hundred foot high Ashokan stupa to mark the spot where the grass cutter gave the Buddha grass to sit on. These are a few of the clues that strongly identify Bakraur as the true Bodh Gaya and not the present day one with the Bodhi tree and Mahabodhi temple. The Bodhi tree is long gone dead. Excavations will unearth the boundary wall and the Muchlinda lake. All this has to be corrected. You can view my findings and my explorations on Bakraur in my youtube Channel “Buddha Exhumed: Discovery of original Bodh Gaya.”

Heres the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWIFb84yvU0&t=19s