 Upon this seat, though my body dry up, and my skin and bones and flesh be dissolved, without having reached enlightenment, no matter how long and difficult to reach, I shall not stir from this seat." In 566 BC, there was a king, Shuddhodana, who ruled the Sakyas, a kingdom in modern Denebhai. One night, his queen, Mahamaya Devi, had a wondrous dream. She dreamt that a magnificent white elephant with a lotus in his trunk entered her womb. The king called the royal astrologers and asked them to interpret the queen's dream. They all said that an illustrious son would be born to her, one who would be either a great sage or a great king who would conquer the world. This is the story of Gautam Siddharth, the prince who became a prophet. Deep in the remote mountains of the Himalayas, the sublime chance of the Buddhist monks merged with the infinity of time and space. These are the followers of the wise, the compassionate one, the Buddha. The Mahabuddhi temple stands at the spot where Gautam Siddharth, prince of the Sakyas, became Sakyamuni, the Buddha, the enlightened one. He was under this people tree that he sat in steadfast meditation. Each branch, each leaf is sacred for having once provided shade and shelter to the Lord. This tree is believed to be the fifth generation of the original Bodhi tree. The sapling came from Sri Lanka, where it was taken from the tree planted there in the third century BC by Emperor Ashoka's son, Mahendra. The message of the Buddha spread rapidly. His teachings reached out to all, cutting across caste and creed. Each man could become the master of his destiny and attain salvation. 2,500 years later, the teachings of the Buddha continued to live in the hearts of believers everywhere. His gentle philosophy gave the world the shining light of truth and wisdom and a way of life that is embodied in the immortal words. I take refuge in the Buddha. I take refuge in the Dharma. I take refuge in the Sangha. If earlier the Buddha's followers were chiefly from Asia and South Asia, today they also come from Europe and North America. His doctrine outlines a way of life that eliminates suffering by individual effort and its simplicity and directness has attracted growing numbers of adherents.