At the time of his death, the Buddha (‘Enlightened One’) is said to have told his close disciples that the followers of his teachings should visit and revere the places associated with four big events of his life — Lumbini (birth), Bodh Gaya (enlightenment), Sarnath (first sermon) and Kushinagar (death). Except Lumbini, which is in Nepal, the other three sites, regarded as sacred destinations of the Buddhist world, are in India. Of these, Bodh Gaya is regarded as the navel of the Buddhist universe.

During the third century BCE, the Mauryan king Ashoka is said to have dug out Buddha’s remains enshrined in the original eight stupas and distributed them among several thousand stupas he erected throughout the Indian subcontinent. As Buddhism became popular, monasteries and shrines started coming up across India. During the Gupta times (c. 300-600 CE), Nalanda Mahavihara emerged as a centre of learning.…