Baidyanath Dham, Deoghar
One of the twelve Jyotirlingas, a huge Shravan pilgrimage in neighbouring Jharkhand
Kashi Vishwanath, Varanasi
The great Shiva shrine on the Ganga, an easy onward train from Gaya
Jagannath Temple, Puri
Char Dham seat of Lord Jagannath, often paired on an eastern-India circuit
Bodh Gaya anchors an eastern-India pilgrim map that reaches well beyond Buddhism. The most natural onward hop is Varanasi, about 250 km away, where Kashi Vishwanath and the Ganga ghats draw pilgrims and where Sarnath, the Buddha's first sermon site, is itself close by. Trains from Gaya make this an easy add-on.
For Shaiva pilgrims, Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar, roughly 250 km east in Jharkhand, is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas and swells enormously during the Shravan kanwar season. Further afield, Jagannath Puri on the Odisha coast, about 500 km away, rounds out a longer eastern circuit that many combine over a week. Within Bodh Gaya itself, the cluster of national monasteries (Thai, Bhutanese, Tibetan, Japanese with its Great Buddha statue, Burmese and others) is worth a full day on foot before you travel onward.
← Back to the full Mahabodhi darshan guideCompiled from public sources including Pilgrimage Tour: Mahabodhi Temple timings and rituals · Pilgrimage Tour: How to reach Mahabodhi Temple · Gaya District (Govt of Bihar): Mahabodhi Mandir · Wikipedia: Bodh Gaya. Timings and seasonal closures change; confirm with the temple trust before travelling.