Shanghai

Hurriedly walked through Shanghai city in three days .......

The Bund at night

Looking at the Bund from the boat

That is the Bund in Shanghai. 

The Red Square Moscow

Finally visited the iconic Red Square of Moscow this summer !

It is not very big in area , but the buildings surrounding the Red Square is made iconic to the world, probably by Hollywood.... ..It is a rectangular apace actually , surrounded at one side by the famous St Basil's Cathedral, adjacently by the State Historical Museum; another two sides being the Kremlin wall with Lenin Maosoleum , and the grey colour  State Departmental Store GUM .

Entering from the Surrection Gate , Kazan Cathedral which is a small building is on the left after the gate.
Let's take one round at the Red Square with this video clip :

The St Basil Cathedral is the most iconic of Red Square or maybe of Moscow , and the red wall of Kremlin always raise curiousity of the world as depicts by the Hollywood. 

Enjoy it .

Kushinagar - Mahaparinibbana

It was in Vaishali that the Buddha annouced that He would be passing away soon , in the North .  King Ashoka was sad that he missed the chance to be alive during the Buddha's time when he found Vaishali .

The Stupa &  the Ashoka Pillar with a lion capital sadly watched the North .

Three months later, the Buddha passed away into Mahaparinibbana under two Sala trees in Kushinagar.

The two Sala trees , under which the Buddha reclined & passed into Mahaparinibbana

The Mahaparinibbana is depicted in this temple , the Buddha reclining in position with his head facing North.

the reclining Mahaparinibbana Buddha

After the passing away, the Buddha was cremated not too far away from the place he passed away .

the Cremation stupa to commemorate the cremation spot.

This is Kushinagar , the place where the Buddha passed away .

First Sermon - Sarnath

After the Supreme enlightenment, the Buddha first showed his appearance to the 5 ascetics in Sarnath . A stupa has been built to commemorate the spot where they saw the Buddha coming .

This is the Chaukhandhi Stupa .

After that , the Buddha turned the wheel of Dhamma at another spot. A stupa was also built to commemorate this place . It is the Dhamekh Stupa .

This was built at Mulgandha kutty vihara to commemorate the turning of Wheel of Dhamma - the Dhamma cakkapavatthana Sutta .

The Buddha then stayed here in the Deer Park for some years teaching the Dhamma .

The Mulghandhakutty vihara .

Dhammarajika kutty ruins

Thanks to King Ashoka who found the site and erected such pillars to mark the place.

Sarnath - the place where the Buddha gave His first sermon is well remembered .

The Enlightenment at Bodhgaya

Bodhgaya , a 'small'  but busy  town , is the place where the Buddha gained enlightenment .  Thousands of people visited this place daily .

The most important place to visit here in Bodhgaya is the Mahabodhi Mahavihara .

 It is a temple built to commemorate the place where the Buddha gained enlightenment . The temple faces East . This is the frontal view.

The south side of the vihara  .

The north side of the temple is where the Buddha paced for 7 days after the Enlightenment ( second week ).

The most important object - the Bodhi tree -  is behind the temple. The Diamond Throne just next to the tree is the actual spot where the Buddha gained the supreme enlightenment .

The first week after Enlightenment , Buddha sat in meditation here on this diamond throne . Then the second week , He gazed the Bodhi tree in gratitude for a week from another spot .

The fourth week when Buddha contemplated on the Abhidhamma .....

A lake has been built at the spot where the serpent king sheltered the Buddha , on the sixth week after the enlightenment .

King Ashoka erected a pillar to commemorate what he found in Bodhgaya . 

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 As we entered the Mahabodhi Mahavihara , we will see this magnificent Buddha ruppa in the main shrine .

Bodhgaya - the most sacred place is unique in its own . A different experience .

The birth place of Prince Siddharta

King Ashoka discovered & marked this place as Lumbini Garden , the birth place of  Prince Siddharta Gautama.

Here's the Gate to Lumbini Garden.

The Maya Devi Temple which enshrined the exact spot of the birth . Too bad that no photography is allowed inside. The marker stone placed by King Ashoka is now protected by a layer of bullet proved glass shield.

The Ashoka Pillar which landmarked the place .

 The inscription on the Pillar can still be read , vaguely.

 The pond that Queen Maya dipped in before the birth of the Prince.

The Bodhi tree which was said to have grown at the same time .

 

Lumbini Garden is now under the care of world heritage . 

India

With much worries, fears, I went on a journey to India tracing the footsteps of the Buddha.India was a colourful , mysterious place to me.

Nevertheless, I prepared myself physically and mentally before going on the trip, to face whatever circumstances to come .

Everything was fine at the starting point. Our flight departed on schedule and I found myself landed in the chaotic Delhi , Dec 2011 .

The airport gave not too bad a first impression of India. I learned from friend that the airport has improved so much compared to 5 years ago.

Nice interior decoration @ arrival hall ,Delhi Airport .

However, as we moved away from the airport, the surrounding gave a different view . Each day as we moved from town to town, place to place , we found different words to describe her .........

Unmistakably India .........

Snake charmer by the roadside

Fascinating  India ......

Dawn @ Holy Gangga , Varanasi

Incredible India .......

Trishaws outside Mughal Sarai Railway Station

Typically  Indian ........

Shaving service

even disgustingly .........

Indian men urinating everywhere , anytime, even on busy streets.

Before we started on the journey following the Buddha's footprint, we visited the  Taj Mahal &  the Ganges River at Varanasi . However , these places didn't make much impact on us , surprisingly .

Nanyue Tomb Museum

There is one more place of interest in Guangzhou that I wanted to highlight here - Nanyue Tomb Museum.

We went there by metro. There is a metro station right next to the museum.

The museum is in front of the actual excavation ground. Public can visit the excavation site before looking at the exhibits in the museum.

stairway leading to the excavation site .

excavation sites , labeled.

In the museum, it was a surprise to see the amount of articles excavated & exhibited. Of course being a tomb, the most important exhibit was the coffin of the owner of the  tomb. 

Here's the coffin of the master of the tomb ........ 

Tomb owner was buried in this Jade Suit

It was a good place to visit .