Sankasia was where the Buddha descended from Trayastriṃśa (Sanskrit; Pāli: Tāvatiṃsa) heaven after teaching his biological mother (Queen Mahamaya), who passed away on the 7th day after giving birth to him. Legends has it that three stairways – in gold, silver and crystal appeared when Shakra and Brahma, out of gratitude for the Buddha’s teachings in the heaven, escorted the Buddha back to Earth. It was said that the stairways were witnessed by King Asoka even after 300 years of the Buddha’s parninirvana. They even extended deep underground. King Asoka had ordered his men to dig into the ground, to see if there was an endpoint to the stairways… but there was no apparent end to them.
Overwhelmed and humbled by this miraculous phenomenon, he built a temple and erected an ‘elephant’ pillar to commemorate the location. Although both temple and pillar were destroyed with not much left, all pilgrims would surely wish to have adequate merits to witness the same miracle.
Next India Adventure: http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/01/india-adventures-9-wish-for-the-same-sky
Previous India Adventure: http://moonpointer.com/new/2010/01/india-adventures-7-invisible-precious-gem
Beautiful pics!
I’m off to India, for the first time, in a few months.
I can’t wait…