This series of digital photographs was taken at The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India, in February 2017. The temple is taken to be built on the place where Prince Siddhartha Gautama sat on a cushion of kusa grass, 2500 years ago and meditated beneath a peepal tree with such determination that he was able to resist the efforts of the tempter, Mara to distract him from achieving enlightenment. It is now the principal place of pilgrimage for Buddhists and attracts visitors from all around the world. Having first felt a connection with Buddhist iconography as a tourist at temples in China and Japan (recorded in the Peaceful Places series), a discovery which unwittingly set me on a path to accepting myself as a Buddhist, the opportunity to visit the Mahabodhi Temple and the Bodhi Tree (Believed to be a grandchild of the original), was not one to be missed. These photographs record a single morning visit with the final image taken just before an evening puja (devotional ritual) on the night before full moon. They aim to recognise moments of stillness and reflection at a site that for all its heritage, can be surprisingly busy and bustling.

A full colour book of At the Foot of the Diamond Throne is now for sale, proceeds of which will help fund further voluntary work with disadvantaged and oppressed youth in India.