This PPT is based on study of Human settlements in "Gaya". Gaya is holy town located 90 km south of Capital city Patna, Bihar. The study is based on historic evolution of Gaya.

1. (HUMAN SETTLEMENTS & VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE)
GUIDED BY :-
DR.ANJALI SHARMA
PRESENTED BY :-
ANKIT KUMAR SUNNY
ROLL NO. – 1705004
SEM – V
B.ARCH

2. GAYA
 Gaya is of historical significance and is one of the major tourist attractions of the state of Bihar.
 This place is known as “ THE LAND OF ENLIGHTMENT AND SALVATION”.
 It is the state's second-largest city, with a population of 470,839, and is the headquarters of Gaya
district and Magadh division.
 The city is surrounded on three sides by small, rocky hills (Mangla-Gauri, Shringa-Sthan, Ram-Shila,
and Brahmayoni), with the Phalgu River on its fourth (eastern) side.
GENERAL INFORMATION
 LOCATION - 24.75°N 85.01°E
COUNTRY - India
STATE - Bihar
REGION - Magadha
DIVISION - Magadh Division
DISTRICT – Gaya
 ELEVATION – 111M (364 FT)
 POPULATION (2011 CENSUS)
TOTAL- 43,91,918
RANK - 98th (India) 2nd (Bihar)
DENSITY - 9,490/km2 (24,600/sq mi)

3. Overview & Etymology
 Gaya is sanctified in the Jain, Hindu, and Buddhist religions. Gaya district is mentioned in the great epics,
the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
 It is the place where Rama, with Sita and Lakshmana, came to offer pind-daan for their father, Dasharath, and
continues to be a major Hindu pilgrimage site for the pind-daan ritual.
 Bodh Gaya, where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, and is one of the four holy sites
of Buddhism. The Mahabodhi Temple complex at Bodh Gaya is a World Heritage site.
 Gaya is one of the best historical sites in India. Gaya is named after the demon Gayasur (meaning "the demon
Gaya").
 According to Vayu Purana, Gaya was the name of a demon (Asura) whose body became pious after he
performed strict penance and secured blessings from Lord Vishnu.
 It was said that the body of Gayasura was transformed into the series of rocky hills that make up the landscape
of Gaya.
 The city of Gaya is a holy place of Hinduism, with a great number of Hindu deities represented in the
engravings, paintings and carvings of its shrines. Of particular importance are the sites in the city associated
with Vishnu, in particular the Phalgu River and the shrine Vishnupad Mandir, or Vishnupada, which is marked
by a large footprint of Lord Vishnu engraved in a basalt block.

5. Historic Evolution
Ancient history
 According to modern scholars, the Kikata kingdom from rigvedic period was located at Gaya, Bihar.
 Gaya is an ancient city, with a Buddhist documented history dating back to the 6th century BCE when the
sage Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, 16 km (9.9 mi) from the modern city, and
became the Buddha.
 Even before this time, Gaya was a place of pilgrimage for people from around the world. The fame of ancient
Gaya derived from the account in the Ramayana of the god Rama coming here to the banks of Phalgu
River (called the Niranjana), accompanied by his wife and younger brother, to offer pind-daan for their
father Dasharatha, for the moksha of his soul.
 In the Mahabharata, Gaya is referred to as Gayapuri.
 The Mangla Gauri temple in [Gaya, Bihar] India has been mentioned in Padma Purana, Vayu
Purana and Agni Purana and Shri Devi Bhagwat Puraan and Markandey Puraan in other scriptures
and tantric works. This temple is among the eighteen maha shaktipeeth. The present temple dates back to
15th century. The shrine is dedicated to Sati or the mother Goddess in the
predominantly Vaishnavite pilgrimage center of Gaya.
 This temple constitutes an Upa-Shakti Peeth — where it is believed that a part of the body of Sati fell
according to mythology. Here Sati is worshipped in the form of her chest, a symbol of nourishment.

6. 1 2
5
1 - Phalgu River along Vishnupad Temple.
2 - Vishnupad temple in 1885.
3 – Vayu puran’s text
4 - Mangla gauri temple
5 - Religious map of Gaya
3
4

7.  Gaya flourished in the Maurya Empire (321–187 BCE), which ruled from the city of Pataliputra (adjacent to
modern Patna) over an area that extended beyond the Indian subcontinent. During this period, Gaya witnessed
the rise and fall of many dynasties in the Magadha region, where it occupied an important place in cultural
history over some 2,400 years between the 6th century BCE and the 18th century CE.
 The city's cultural significance began with the dynasty founded by Sisunaga, who exercised power over Patna
and Gaya around 600 BCE. Bimbisara, fifth king of the dynasty, who lived and ruled around 519 BCE, had
projected Gaya to the outer world. Having attained an important place in the history of civilization, the area
experienced the influence of Gautama Buddha and Bhagwan Mahavir during the reign of Bimbisara.
 After a brief period under the Nanda dynasty (345–321 BCE), Gaya and the entire Magadha region came under
Mauryan rule. Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (272–232 BCE) embraced and promoted Buddhism. He visited Gaya,
and built the first temple at Bodh Gaya to commemorate the Buddha's attainment of supreme enlightenment.
 The period of Hindu revivalism began with the Gupta Empire during the 4th and 5th centuries
CE. Samudragupta of Magadha brought Gaya into the limelight, making it the capital of Bihar district during the
Gupta empire.
 In 750 CE, Gaya became a part of the Pala Empire, under the rule of its founder, Gopala. It is believed that the
present temple of Bodh Gaya was built during the reign of Gopala's son, Dharmapala.
 In the 12th century CE, Gaya was invaded by Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji of the Ghaznavid Empire. By 1557, it
had become part of the Mughal Empire, and remained under its power until the Battle of Buxar and the
beginning of British rule in 1764. Gaya, along with other parts of the country, gained its independence in 1947.

8.  The Vajrasana, together with the remnants of the ancient temple built by Ashoka, was excavated by
archaeologist Alexander Cunningham (1814-1893), who published his discovery and related research of
the Mahabodhi Temple in his 1892 book Mahâbodhi, or the great Buddhist temple under the Bodhi tree at
Buddha-Gaya.
 Ashoka is thought to have visited Bodh Gaya around 260 BCE, about 10 years into his reign, as explained by
his Rock Edict number VIII.
MAHABODHI TEMPLE
BODHI TREE
FRONT VIEW
Sculpture of the
Satavahana period at Sanchi
VAJRASANA

9. Modern History
 As attested by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in the early nineteenth century, the city was divided into two areas: a
sacred area in the southern part of the city, called Gaya; and the larger secular area, which may have been
known by the Muslim community as Allahabad.
 During the British rule, the commercial and administrative area of the secular zone was formally named Saheb
Ganj by British policy reformer Thomas Law, who was a district officer in Gaya in the late nineteenth century.
 Gaya played a significant role in the Indian Independence Movement. From 26 to 31 December 1922, the 37th
session of the Indian National Congress was held in Gaya under the presidency of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan
Das.
 It was attended by prominent leaders and luminaries of the Independence Movement, including Mohandas K.
Gandhi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad, Jawaharlal
Nehru and Sri Krishna Sinha.
 In January 2015, Gaya was chosen as one of twelve heritage cities to benefit from the Government of India's
four-year Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme for urban planning, economic
growth and heritage conservation projects.
 Gaya Junction was the only station in Bihar and Jharkhand in the list of 66 stations to be built to international
standards drawn up by Minister of Railways Mamata Banerjee. The Grand Chord section of the Indian Railways
passes through Gaya.

10.  Gaya Airport is the large airport by area, and one of two operating international airports in the states of Bihar
and Jharkhand. It is the second-busiest airport in Bihar, after Patna's Jay Prakash Narayan Airport. The Airports
Authority of India has plans to develop Gaya Airport as a stand-by to the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose
International Airport in Kolkata.
EDUCATION
Notable institutions of higher education include:
Gaya College
Gaya College of Engineering
Magadh University
Central University of South Bihar
Indian Institute of Management Bodh Gaya
Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital
OTA (Officers Training Academy) Gaya, set up in 2011, is located amid an estate of approximately 870 acres in
a hilly terrain of Paharpur at Gaya. Gaya Cantonment dates back to World War II, as one of the headquarters of the
British Army.
ADMINISTRATION
Until 1864, Gaya was a part of the district of Behar and Ramgarh (now in the state of Jharkhand). It became a
district of Bihar in its own right on 3 October 1865. In May 1981, the Bihar state government created the Magadh
division, comprising the district of Gaya, along with Nawada, Aurangabad and Jehanabad, all of which had
originally been sub-divisions when Gaya district was created. Aurangabad and Nawada were partitioned from the
territory of Gaya in 1976; and Jehanabad in 1988. Gaya district occupies an area of 4,976 km2 (1,921 mile2).

11. CLIMATE
 As Gaya is surrounded by hills on three sides and river on the fourth side, the climate of Gaya is seasonable.
Climate is characterised by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed rainfall throughout the year.
The Köppen Climate Classification sub-type for this climate is "Cwa" (humid subtropical)
ECONOMY
 Gaya is the second-largest contributor to the economy of Bihar, after Patna. Agriculture is the leading economic
activity of the district. The main crops grown are rice, wheat, potatoes, and lentils. Livestock raised include
cattle, buffaloes, goats and pigs. Gaya has a large number of household industries, producing incense
sticks (atagarbatti), local sweets tilkut (made with sesame seed) and lai (made with poppy seed), stone-work,
hand weaving, power-loom weaving, textiles and garments, small-scale manufactured goods, and plastic
products.
 Bodh Gaya's largest hotel is the Maha Bodhi Hotel, Resort & Convention Centre; the Sambodhi Retreat, a
resort of Bihar and Jharkhand, is also in the town.
 Buddha Vatika, a biodiversity park has been established over an area of 23 acres with plan of future extension
which is located in Dobhi, 32 km from headquarter.

12. URBAN DEVELOPMENT STATISTICS
(SOURCE : CITY DEVELPOMENT PLAN )

13. CAPITAL INVESTMENTOF CITY
LITERACY RATE

15. BIBLIOGRAPHY
• www.google.com
• https://en.wikipedia.org
• https://gaya.nic.in
• https://www.britannica.com/place/Gaya
• https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1056/
• http://urban.bih.nic.in/Docs/CDP/CDP-Gaya.pdf
• https://nagarseva.bihar.gov.in/udhd/cache/SHOW_DOCS/Final%20CDP%20
Gaya.pdf
• https://www.bodhgayatemple.com/
• https://www.india.gov.in/
• https://www.incredibleindia.org/

16. THANK
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