The ashes of Buddha, now kept at a Sri Lankan temple, will be moved to Bodh Gaya in north Indian state Bihar where Buddha gained enlightenment.

The Sri Lankan government has started the process of shifting the holy urn, which contained Buddha's ashes, from Mulyangan Temple to Bodh Gaya, said P. S. Thero, the monk in-charge of the temple, here Wednesday.

According to Thero, the ashes of two of Buddha's disciples Sariputa and Mahabhogalya will also be moved to Bodh Gaya.

Bodh Gaya is considered one of the holiest sites by Buddhists. According to Buddhist traditions, Prince Gautama Siddhartha sat in meditation under a pipal tree at the bank of Falgu River near the city of Gaya for three days and nights and attained enlightenment and the answers that he had sought.

Enlightened by the new thought, he spent seven weeks at seven different spots in the vicinity meditating and considering his experience and then he traveled to Sarnath, now in north India's Uttar Pradesh, and began teaching Buddhism.

Source: Xinhua