• Jan 25 2016
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Kadia Dungar Cave

Gujarat, so far known as the pilgrimage center of Hindu and Muslim, plays the role of hosting Buddhist pilgrimages too. One can see the traces of the Saurashtra, a region in Gujarat, in some of the famous Buddhist literature books like Indriya Jataka, Milinda Panha, Petavatthu, etc. Earliest archaeological evidence of Buddhism presence in Gujarat was found by Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang in the year 640 AD. Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang noted the presence of 200 monasteries housing 10,000 monks at Bharuch, Atali, Kheta, Valabhi, Anandapura and Surashtra.

Another Chinese traveller, I-tsing, explored Gujarat in 670AD. He observed that Sammitiya School (one of the eighteen or twenty early Buddhist schools in India) had the greatest followers in western India. Many of Gujarat's famous towns like Vadnagar, Devnimori, and Junagadh are blessed with the presence of many Buddhism monasteries, temples and hills. See below for the detailed information about Buddhism tourism destinations in Gujarat:

Valabhi: Valabhi in Gujarat is a famous town place for Buddhism studies. I-tsing, the famous Chinese traveller stated that Valabhi University stature is at par with the Nalanda University.

Vadnagar: Vadnagar, located 128 kms away from Ahmedabad, is an archeological site positioned between River Banas and River Rupen. Within Vadnagar, there is a 12-cell structure that belonged to a Buddhist vihara or monastery and housed monks from the 2nd to 4th century. Hiuen Tsang, who visited Vadnagar (then known as Anandapur) in the 7th century, reported that the city had some 10 sangharams (resting places for Buddhist monks) with 1,000 Buddhist monks.