Location
Name of the temple: Maha Bodhi Temple
Name of the deity : Lord Buddha
Location : Bodhgaya, Bihar, India
Introduction
Located at Bodh Gaya, Bihar, the Maha Bodhi Temple is also known as the Mahabodhi Mahavihara or the Great Stupa. The Maha Bodhi Temple is one of the four holiest Buddhist sites, the others are Lumbini in Nepal (the birth place of Lord Buddha), Sarnath, near Varanasi (his first message was preached here) and Kushinagar, near Gorakhpur (the place where he died). The Maha Bodhi Temple was one of the eighty four thousand shrines built by King Ashoka in the 3rd Century B.C. and was also recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2002.
The Deity worshipped
The principal deity of the Maha Bodhi Temple is Lord Buddha. The sanctum of the temple hosts a gold painted statue of Lord Buddha in the Bhumisparsha Mudra (touching the ground pose). It is in this posture Lord Buddha had attained the Supreme Enlightenment. The colossal image of Lord Buddha is believed to be almost 1700 years old and was built of black stone by the Pala Kings of Bengal.
The sacred Bodhi Tree
Believed to be the fifth succession tree of the original one, it was under this sacred Bodhi Tree that Lord Buddha had attained enlightenment on the full moon day of Vaisakh Purnima i.e. in the month of May. Sanghamitra, the daughter of King Ashoka, had planted a branch of the tree at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka and the tree is still in existence. The Bodhi Tree is planted in almost every Buddhist monasteries to symbolize the presence of Dharma. It is also believed that almost all the sacred trees in India and in the subcontinent have their origins in this sacred tree. The original Bodhi Tree is believed to have been destroyed by King Ashoka’s wife due to jealousy, owing to King Ashoka spending a major part of his time near the tree.
Vajrasana
Built in the 3rd Century B.C. by King Ashoka out of red sandstone, the Vajrasana or the Diamond Throne is believed to be the seat of Lord Buddha’s enlightenment. The throne has been described by Ashwaghosa in his Budhacarita as the ‘Navel of the Earth’.
Archeological facts
The architecture of the Maha Bodhi Temple relates to the contemporary style of the Nalanda Temple. A comprehensive account of the Mahabodhi Complex is available in the details left to us by Hieun Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim and traveler who visited the region in 637 A.D. The Bodh Gaya Museum, inaugurated in 1956, also hosts a massive collection of stone sculptures and artifacts related to the period.
History
As per Buddhist beliefs as well as historians, the Mahabodhi Mahavihara was built by Buddhist Emperor Ashoka. The temple was established after Emperor Ashoka had visited the site of Lord Buddha’s enlightenment and had installed the Vajrasana or the stone representation of Lord Buddha. This very significant site was marked by Lord Buddha with his trademark inscribed iron pillars, with the Elephant capital.
The first references of the Maha Bodhi Temple and the Bodhi Tree in the accounts of Fahien can be traced back to 404-05 A.D. Some alterations and modifications of the temple were undertaken during the 6th Century A.D. It was later renovated by the Burmese Kings and the British. Alexander Cunningham, the then Director General of the Archeological Survey of India, acquired the legal rights and comprehensively renovated the temple. The Mahabodhi Society was established by the Dharmapala organization in 1949, after a prolonged struggle. The Committee was ratified by the Bodh Gaya Act and comprises of Four Hindus and Four Buddhists as its members.
Scriptural references
Gautama Buddha was born as Siddhartha at Lumbini, to King Suddhodana and Queen Mahamaya. He was born in the year 563 B.C. on a full moon Vaishakha day. Right since his childhood he was immersed in concerns about the sufferings of humanity at large. At the age of 30, he left his family and palace to seek a path for the redemption of humanity from the cycle of suffering.
He gave up all forms of worldly pleasures and wandered in forests and caves for almost six long years. After abandoning the rigors of penance and fasting, by accepting milk and honey from a young woman, he seated himself beneath a Bodhi Tree in search of enlightenment. Finally, at the age of 35, on a full moon night of Vaishakha, Siddhartha attained the Supreme Enlightenment. He was thereafter known as the Buddha or the ‘Awakened One’. Lord Buddha was also revered as Sugato, Bhagawan, Tathagata and Samyak Sambuddha.
After attaining enlightenment, Lord Buddha practiced seated and walking meditation for another couple of weeks. Steadily he was able to garner the support of his devotees and the Bodhi Tree became a pilgrimage site. Later, the village of Uruvela, which hosts the Bodhi Tree, came to be known as Vajrasana, Sambodhi and Mahabodhi. In the later years, Lord Buddha was immersed in preaching his philosophy of Bahujana Hitaya, Bahujana Sukhaya. He left his body in meditation at the age of 80 in the Sal grove at Kusinara (this event is also known as Mahaparinibbana).
Cultural Significance
Emperor Ashoka, commissioned the construction of the first temple at this site in 260 B.C., which then steadily became a hub for Buddhist pilgrimage. Located at the very heart of the city of Bodh Gaya, the Maha Bodhi Temple is one of the four most significant sites for Buddhist worship. The most important aspect of the temple is that, it is directly related with the life of Lord Buddha himself and therefore provides invaluable records and information about him.
Temple details
Spreading across an area of 4.8 hectares and a height of 55 meters, the Maha Bodhi Temple is one of the finest specimens of the architectural genius of the period. The major architectural features of the Maha Bodhi Temple are as follows:
- There is a 52 meter tall dome next to the large gilded Buddha statue near the Bodhi Tree. The dome also consists of several horizontal bands or motifs and further extends upwards in the shape of an umbrella, which is also known as Amalaka.
- The interior walls of the temple are adorned with friezes, which depicts the life of Lord Buddha.
- Chankramana Chaitya, situated alongside the northern wall of the temple, is a raised walkway symbolizing the path of Lord Buddha’s walking meditation. It is also known as the Jewel Path. The walkway is lined with 19 lotuses, which further decorates the path.
- A lotus pond is also located alongside the temple, which is believed to be the exact place where Lord Buddha used to perform his ablutions.
- The Animeshchalochana Stupa marks the place from where Lord Buddha contemplated the Bodhi Tree.
Festivals
The major festivals celebrated in the Maha Bodhi Temple are as follows:
- Buddha Jayanti- It commemorates the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha, during the full moon night in the month of Vaishakha i.e. the month of May. The celebration is a gala event and religious discourses, recitation of Buddhist scriptures, group meditation and symposiums are also organized.
- Birth anniversary of Anagrika Dharmapala
- Birth and death anniversaries of Babasaheb Ambedkar
- Hiroshima Day
- Kalachakra Ceremony (Held for about ten days every year and is presided over by the Dalai Lama himself)
Address & Contact Details
Address:
Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee
P.O. Box – 2, Buddhagaya 824231
Gaya, Bihar, India
Tel.: 0091-631 – 2200735 Fax: 2200777
E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Timing of Temple
Opening hours are from 5 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.