The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t32.13

c6.s3.t32.13

Bauddha-Gaya was famous for its possession of the holy *Pippal*-tree under which Sâkya Sinha sat for five years in mental abstraction, until he obtained Buddhahood. The celebrated *Bodhi-drúm*, or "Tree of Wisdom," still exists, but it is very much decayed. Immediately to the east of the tree there is a massive brick temple, nearly 50 feet square at base, and 160 feet in height. This is beyond all doubt the *Vihâr* that was seen by Hwen Thsang in the seventh century, as he places it to the east of the Bodhi-tree, and describes it as 20 paces square at base, and from 160 to 170 feet in height.