According to Buddhist tradition, immediately after enlightenment, Buddha walked to and fro, near the sacred tree, for seven days. The spot where he so walked was considered sacred and a shrine was built probably by the noble lady Kurangi, in about the 1st century B.C. called as the Ratn-chankraman-chaitya (represented in bas-relief at Bharhut Stupa). The spot is situated close to the north of the Bodhi tree within the area enclosed by the existing railing. The remains now consist of a brick platform bearing on its upper surface carvings of two lotus flowers each representing, serially, a footprint of the Buddha. Traces of a pillared structure over the platform are also visible in the surviving bases and in one pillar still standing in situ and bearing representation of a beautiful female figure on one of its sides. From its representation in the Bharhut reliefs, it seems that the superstructure was an open pillared hall canopied by a flat or gabled roof.

This was discovered during the restoration work in 1880. Cunningham mentions that he first had thought these to be parts of the temple built by Asoka, but later discovered its true significance since it was seen to be covered by a roof. These pillars were marked by a letter of the Asokan alphabets.

To be continued....