March 1790: "Gyah is a place of great antiquity, much resorted to by the Hindoos..." In addition to the Vishnupad Temple, many other shrines were visited by the pilgrims who flocked to Bodhgaya, a site South of the city where Buddha's enlightment is said to have occurred.
The Akshai Vata, or undying banyan tree, stood half a mile South. As Thomas Daniell observed "fragments of mutilated idols, the work of Mahomeddan intolerance..[were] still regarded with veneration".