Mahabodhi (Gaya), Oct. 16 : Visiting the famous Mahabodhi temple of Bodh Gaya by evening has been made extra special with illumination effect.

Temple management has spent about 30 million rupees to illuminate the temple, as part of its beautification initiative.

"The implementation was a part of the temple''s beautification. Besides, Bodhgaya is an important place of pilgrimage for the Buddhists and people of other religion as well. From the spiritual point of view, this is a part of offering to the Buddha through illumination," said Nandji Dorjee, secretary, Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee.

Gaya (Bihar), Sep. 25 : Bihar floods have marred the annual Pitripaksha Mela in Gaya, when Hindus offer Pinda Daan to perform Shraadh (a death ritual) for the departed soul of ancestors.

Pitripaksha is an occasion when Hindus pay tributes to their departed ancestors by offering Pind Daan (cooked food) on the banks of River Sarayu, to the crows, the cows and Brahmins.

Gaya is reckoned as a sacred place for this offering and Lord Rama is believed to have performed this Vedic ritual on the banks of River Sarayu. But, this year, there has been a very low turnout of people here from different parts of the country.

Gaya (Bihar), Sept 22 : Business has been severely hit in Gaya in Bihar due to a sharp fall in the number of people turning up for the annual fair, organised during the fortnight- long ceremonies to pay tribute to forefathers.

The fair has seen less participation this year that has adversely affected the sale of different products.

Traders and shopkeepers say that earlier a lot of people used to come here from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal but this year there has been a sharp decline in their number.

Gaya (Bihar), Aug 26 : A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was killed and three others were injured in an encounter with Maoists in Bihar''s Gaya District today.

According to sources, CRPF Havildar B P Singh was kidnapped and shot dead after an encounter with the Maoist guerrillas at Patthar-Lautia village, around 90 km from Gaya on Monday evening.

Constables Mahipal Singh and R K Shahi, who received bullet injuries in the encounter, were admitted to the Magadh Medical College Hospital Gaya.

Gaya (Bihar), August 1 : Maoist rebels have protested against the Indo-US civil nuclear deal in Gaya district of Bihar.

The rebels burned tyres and shouted slogans against the Government at their hideout at unidentified location in Gaya on Friday.

They criticised the nuke deal as being harmful in the interest of the country.

Gaya (Bihar), July 02 (ANI): Maoist call for shutdown in Bihar and Jharkhand h