According to traditional Buddhist biographies, Siddhartha Gautama was 35 years old when he attained enlightenment.
The traditional chronology says Siddhartha left his palace at age 29 and practiced with teachers and ascetics for several years. After abandoning extreme austerities, he adopted the Middle Way and meditated beneath the Bodhi tree at Uruvela, near present-day Bodh Gaya.
At age 35, he is said to have gained awakening and become the Buddha, meaning “Awakened One.” He then spent the remainder of his life teaching the path to liberation across northern India.
Dates in the Buddha’s biography vary between Buddhist traditions, and modern historians debate the exact years of his life. The age of 35, however, is the standard traditional answer. It is distinct from his age at renunciation, traditionally given as 29, and his age at death, traditionally given as 80.