The Mahabodhi Temple is situated at:

The Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya, in the Gaya district of Bihar, marks the place where Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment (Bodhi) in about 528 BCE (or around the 5th century BCE) and became the Buddha, while meditating under a peepal tree, later called the Bodhi tree, on the bank of the river Niranjana (Phalgu).

The first temple at the site is believed to have been built by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. The present temple, built of bricks, dates mainly from the 5th-6th centuries CE, during the late Gupta period. It is one of the earliest Buddhist temples built entirely of brick that still stands in India. Its central tower is about 55 metres high, in a pyramidal shape, with four smaller towers at the corners. The temple was restored in the 19th century under the supervision of Alexander Cunningham, and by the Burmese.

The complex includes:

The Bodhi tree, believed to be a descendant of the original tree. A sapling of the original tree was taken to Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka by Ashoka's daughter Sanghamitra.

The Vajrasana ("diamond throne"), a stone platform marking the place where the Buddha sat.

Sacred spots where the Buddha is believed to have spent the seven weeks after enlightenment, such as the Animeshlochan Chaitya and the Lotus Pond.

The Mahabodhi Temple Complex was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002. Bodh Gaya is one of the four most sacred places of Buddhism:

Lumbini (Nepal): birthplace of the Buddha.

Bodh Gaya (Bihar): place of enlightenment.

Sarnath (Uttar Pradesh): place of the first sermon (Dharmachakra Pravartana).

Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh): place of death (Mahaparinirvana).

The temple is managed by the Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee, set up under the Bodh Gaya Temple Act, 1949.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Sarnath is where the Buddha gave his first sermon.
• ✗Kushinagar is where he attained Mahaparinirvana.
• ✗Lumbini is where he was born.