Malaysian embarks on a trip of enlightenment in Bodhgaya, India

The writer and her group with the Buddhist chief high priest of Malaysia, Datuk K. Sri Dharmaratana.

Going on a pilgrimage enables one to experience a sense of spiritual awakening. Last December, my friends and I were blessed to be able to accompany the Buddhist chief high priest of Malaysia, Datuk K. Sri Dharmaratana to attend a conference in Bodhgaya, India.

While we were in Kolkata, we learned that our flight to Bodhgaya was cancelled. We had to make last-minute arrangements and fly to Patna instead, and then take a chartered bus to Bodhgaya. It was a four-hour drive and along the way, we passed through rural villages and saw how some of the people lived.