GAYA, a town and district of British India, in the Patna division of Bihar and Orissa, with a station on the Grand Chord line of the East Indian railway. With a population (1931) of 88,005 it is, next to Patna, the most populous town in the province. Gaya is a celebrated place of Hindu pilgrimage, for it is a sacred duty for Hindus to make offerings there for the salvation of their parents and ancestors; it is estimated that no less than 300,000 pilgrims come annually. There are altogether 45 sacred places between (and including) Pretsil hill on the north and Bodh-Gaya on the south, a distance of 15 m., but most are in Gaya itself. The principal shrine is the Vishnupad temple built by the Mah ratta princess, Ahalya Bai, in 1787. Others are the rocky temple crowned hills of Ramsila (3 7 2 ft.) and Brahmajuni (45o ft.). The last, which overlooks the civil station, has been identified with the Gayasirsa hill on which Buddha preached.
The DISTRICT OF GAYA, with an area of 4,714 sq.m. and a popu lation (1931) of 2,388,462, consists of a wide plain, with wooded hills along the southern boundary, whence the country falls with a gentle slope towards the north. The hills in the south, which con tain scenes of the most picturesque beauty, rise to a height of 2,202 ft. at Durvasarhi and to 1,832 ft. in the Mahabar hills. A long range extends from near Bodh-Gaya north-eastwards, and elsewhere in the open plain, rocky hills occur, either detached or in groups, such as Maher, 1,62o ft.; Kauwadol and the Barabar hills. The northern part of the district is highly cultivated; the portions to the east and west are less fertile; while in the south the country is thinly peopled; and in the jungles covering the hills and the country below them, tigers, leopards, bear and deer are found. The principal rivers are the Son, which marks the bound ary between Gaya and the Shahabad, the Punpun and the Phalgu, formed by the junction of two large hill streams, the Nilajan and Mohana. The last three rivers are subject to heavy floods. Agri culture depends largely on artificial irrigation, which is mainly effected by an indigenous system of channels leading from the rivers and storage reservoirs made by building embankments across the lines of drainage. The north-west of the district is irri gated by part of the Son canal system. Mica mines are worked in the south-west of the district, which contains part of the Bihar mica belt, one of the largest sources of the world's supply. Other industries are the production of shellac, which centres on Imam ganj, the weaving of carpets and blankets, notably at Obra, and the manufacture of brass utensils and of black stoneware, chiefly ornaments sold to pilgrims at Gaya. The district is traversed by the Grand Chord line of the East India railway, the South Behar railway running into the Monghyr district, and a branch line to Patna. Gaya district is singularly rich in ancient sites and has many archaeological remains associated with the early history of Buddhism. Bodh-Gaya, about 6 m. S. of Gaya, is one of the holiest sites of Buddhism. A mound on the Sobhnath hill has been identified with the burial place of Kasyapa, the greatest of Buddha's disciples; the remains of a monastery are in a valley (Hasra Kol) near by, where fine sculptured figures have been found. In the Barabar hills there are rock-cut caves or rooms, in some of which the rock has been wrought to an extraordinary polish. An inscription of Asoka in one group shows they were dedicated to the use of ascetics called Ajivikas. The other group was hewn out of the rock for the use of the same sect by his grandson, Dararatha ; they are called the Nagarjuni caves, after a Buddhist teacher of that name who is believed to have lived in them in the 2nd century A.D.