Varanasi Ganges Ghats, Sarnath, Bodh Gaya Mahabodhi (UNESCO 2002), Nalanda (UNESCO 2016) and the Buddhist Circuit: A Deep Heritage Tour of India's Oldest Spiritual Heartland
Browse more guides: India travel | Asia destinations Varanasi Ganges Ghats, Sarnath, Bodh Gaya Mahabodhi (UNESCO 2002), Nalanda (UNESCO 2016) and the Buddhist Circuit: A Deep Heritage Tour of India's Oldest Spiritual Heartland TL;DR Varanasi and the Buddhist Circuit form the single densest concentration of spiritually significant sites on earth. The corridor runs roughly 400 kilometres across eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and a slice of southern Nepal, and inside that corridor you can stand on a ghat where Hindus have been performing the same evening fire ritual for at least three thousand years, then drive ten kilometres and stand on the spot where the Buddha gave his first sermon in 528 BC, then drive another three hundred and reach the actual Bodhi tree under which he attained enlightenment. The headline anchors are five places. Varanasi itself, with 88 ghats running 7 kilometres along the Ganges and the nightly Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat. Sarnath, where the Dhamek St...