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Mahabodhi temple  Day 3 We come to hotel lobby exactly at 6:30 AM, as suggested by our tour operator Jackie, to visit the Mahabodhi temple.  No cars are allowed near the Mahabodhi temple.  You also cannot carry with you, your mobile phones or any other baggage inside the temple premises. These precautionary conditions are in force as, on 7 July 2013 a series of ten bombs had exploded in and around the Mahabodhi Temple complex. Five people, including two Buddhist monks, were injured by the blasts. Three other devices were defused by bomb-disposal squads at a number of locations in Gaya. Jackie suggests that we leave our mobiles phones and other stuff with the hotel reception, take our cameras and start for the temple on foot. While we are just outside the hotel, an ‘e-Rickshaw’ (Tuk-Tuk) silently approaches. Jackie tells us that these battery powered electric rickshaws are a recent addition and have completely replaced the cycle rickshaws. We decide to take the ride and board. A few minutes later, we alight in the chowk, up to which ‘e-Rickshaws’ are allowed to ply. We find the ride smooth, silent and pollution free. From this chowk onwards we would need to walk. We hand over our shoes to a service shop, which specializes in safe-keeping the shoes and start walking. The weather is not very cold yet the flooring on which we walk has already turned colder.  Temple management seems to be aware of this and have provided a green plastic foam carpet for people, who want to walk towards the temple. We soon reach the temple entrance. There is another security check. Our cameras are checked for any hidden stuff and we have a body check to see that we are not carrying any non-allowed things. Another few steps and we are standing at Gate no. 2 to east of the temple. View from Eastern Gate Pillar in front of Eastern entrance  Entire temple complex except for the three sacred sites of Buddha’s enlightenment, stands on a low ground, at least 10 to 15 feet below the adjacent ground on which entrance gate stands. The present Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya comprises the 50 m high grand Temple, the Vajrasana, sacred Bodhi Tree and other  sacred sites of Buddha’s enlightenment, surrounded by numerous ancient Votive stupas, well maintained and protected by inner, middle and outer circular boundaries.  A seventh sacred place, the Lotus Pond, is located outside the enclosure to the south. Both the temple area and the Lotus Pond are surrounded by circulating passages at two or three levels and the area of the ensemble is 5 m below the level of the surrounding land.     Buddha image in the sanctum  of Mahabodhi temple  Mahabodhi temple complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  UNESCO’s web site describes the temple complex in these words. “The Mahabodhi Temple Complex is one of the four holy sites related to the life of the Lord Buddha, and particularly to the attainment of Enlightenment. The first temple was built by Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century B.C., and the present temple dates from the 5th or 6th centuries. It is one of the earliest Buddhist temples built entirely in brick, still standing in India, from the late Gupta period. The Main Temple wall has an average height of 11 m and it is built in the classical style of Indian temple architecture. It has entrances from the east and from the north and has a low basement with mouldings decorated with honeysuckle and geese design. Above this is a series of niches containing images of the Buddha. Further above there are mouldings and chaitya niches, and then the curvilinear shikhara or tower of the temple surmounted by amalaka and kalasha (architectural features in the tradition of Indian temples). At the four corners of the parapet of the temple are four statues of the Buddha in small shrine chambers. A small tower is built above each of these shrines. The temple faces east and consists of a small forecourt in the east with niches on either side containing statues of the Buddha.” Ashoka Pillar  Muchlind Lake  We go down the steps l...