Gaya

Gaya (gī`ə), city (1991 pop. 294,427), Bihar state, E central India. The region is sacred to Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims, who visit the temple of Vishnupad [Sanskrit,=Vishnu's footstep]. Bodh Gaya, the site of the Buddha's enlightenment, is 6 mi (10 km) to the south. The city, a district administrative center, has road, rail, and air transportation. There are processing industries for cotton, jute, sugar, and stones. Tobacco and betel leaves are traded.

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Gaya

a city in NE India, in Bihar: Hindu place of pilgrimage and one of the holiest sites of Buddhism. Pop.: 383 197 (2001)

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Gaya 

a city in India, located in Bihar State in the Ganges Valley. Population, 167,500 (1969). A transport hub, it has food and tanning industries and plants manufacturing metal goods, fabrics, shellac, and objects of religious worship.

A religious center, Gaya has been known since the middle of the first millennium B.C. It was one of the economic and cultural centers of ancient Magadha. It development was promoted by a continual influx of Buddhists and of Hindu pilgrims, whose holy place is Gaya mountain, honored as the dwelling-place of the ancient sage, the saint (rishi) Gaya. A world center of Buddhist pilgrimage can be found about 10 km to the south of Gaya, where, in the village of Buddh Gaya, Buddhists worship the so-called Bo tree. According to Buddhist legends Gautama, sitting under the tree, attained enlightenment and became Buddha. The famous Buddhist temple of Mahabodhi, an outstanding example of ancient Indian architecture, is also located there.

G. F. IL’IN