Just
before the full moon day of the month of Vesakha in about
the year 528 BCE, a young ascetic of noble birth, worn out
by years of self denial, arrived on the outskirts of the small
village of Uruvela nestled on the banks of the sandy Neranjara
River. Many years later he described the scene that unfolded
before him. "There I saw a beautiful stretch of countryside,
a beautiful grove, a clear flowing river, a lovely ford and
a village nearby for support. And I thought to myself; 'Indeed,
this is a good place for a young man set on striving' ".
He settled himself under the spreading branches of the a nearby
tree and prepared to begin his meditation. Just then a young
woman named Sujata happened to be passing and noticing how
thin he was, ran quickly home and brought him a bowel of milk
rice and sweet honey. Strengthened by this nutritious meal
the ascetic began his meditation. All night he sat there as
the leaves of the tree quivered in the gentle breeze and the
moon shone bright in the velvety black sky. Eventually the
clouds of ignorance dissolved and he saw the Truth in all
its glory and splendour. He was no longer Prince Siddhartha
or the ascetic Gotama. He had become the Awakened One, the
Compassionate One, the Light of the World, the Buddha Supreme.
The Buddha spent the next seven weeks near Uruvela experiencing
the bliss of enlightenment and moving to a different location
every seven days. Then he set off for Sarnath near Varanasi
to proclaim to the world the profound and liberating truths
he had realised. Some months later, back in Uruvela again,
he met three old ascetics with matted hair of the type that
some Hindu swamis still wear, the brothers Nadi Kassapa, Gaya
Kassapa and Uruvela Kassapa. Although revered teachers themselves
they had never heard such wisdom as they did from the Buddha's
lips nor had they ever experienced the serenity and joy that
showed so clearly on his smiling face. The three brothers,
followed by their thousand disciples, bowed at the Buddha's
feet and asked him to ordain them as monks. This done, the
whole party with the Buddha at its head set out for Rajgir.
There is no evidence that the Buddha ever returned to Uruvela.
But as his teachings spread and attracted more followers some
of these people began to want to see the place where their
teacher had attained enlightenment. Understanding that this
could arouse faith or further nourish faith already aroused,
the Buddha encouraged such visits. Thus the Buddhist tradition
of pilgrimage began. By the 2nd century BCE the name Uruvela
fallen into abeyance and the village came to be known as either
Sambodhi, Vajrasana or Mahabodhi. The name Bodh Gaya only
came into use in the 18th century.
There
are records of pilgrims coming to Bodh Gaya from all over
India and from almost every land and region where Buddhism
spread. In the 11th century Acarya Dharmakirti from Sumatra
made a pilgrimage to Lumbini, Kapilavatthu and Bodh Gaya.
When I Tsing was in Bodh Gaya in the 7th century he met a
monk who had come all the way from what is now Kazakhstan.
Vietnamese began coming to India on pilgrimage soon after
the introduction of Buddhism into their country in the 6th
century. One of the earliest such records concerns two monks,
Khuy Sung and Minh Vien, who took a ship to Sri Lanka, sailed
up the west coast of India and then went from there by foot
to the holy land. The two companions reached Bodh Gaya and
then continued on to Rajgir where poor Khuy Sung died. He
was only twenty five years old. In about 402 CE, after an
epic journey through the mountains and deserts of Central
Asia, the gentle and pious Fa Hien reached Bodh Gaya , the
first Chinese monk ever to do so. On returning home he wrote
an account of his pilgrimage which in later centuries inspired
hundreds of others to follow in his footsteps. The most famous
of these was Hiuen Tsiang who stayed in India from 630 to
644 visiting Bodh Gaya at least twice during that time. He
too wrote an account of his pilgrimage in which he included
much detailed and accurate information about Bodh Gaya. In
fact, we today are able to identify many locations in and
around the Mahabodhi Temple and know their histories and the
legends associated with them, because of Hiuen Tsiang's book.
Another pilgrim, this time a Tibetan, who also bequeathed
to us much information about Bodh Gaya's past was the scholar
monk Dharmasvamin. He arrived in the spring of 1234 only to
find that "the place was deserted and only four monks
were staying there. One of them said; 'It is not good! All
have fled from the Turushka soldiers'. The monks blocked up
the door in front of the Mahabodhi Image with bricks and plastered
it. Near it they placed another image as a substitute. They
also plastered up the outside door of the Temple. On its surface
they drew an image of Mahesvara to protect the Image from
the non-Buddhists. One of the monks said; 'We five dare not
stay here and shall have to flee'. As the days stage was long
and the heat great, they felt tired and as it became dark,
they remained there and fell asleep. Had the Turushkas come
they would not have known it". The danger passed and
Dharmasvamin and the other monks were able to come back. Dharmasvamin
stayed for three months, went off to Rajgir and Nalanda and
then returned to Tibet. His biography includes details of
everything he saw and experienced in Bodh Gaya and is the
last full account of the place until 1811.
The
first evidence of a Sri Lankan coming to Bodh Gaya is an inscription
by a monk named Bodhiraksita written in the 1st century BCE.
This inscription is incidentally, also the earliest evidence
of any pilgrim from outside India coming to Bodh Gaya. According
to the Rasavahini a monk named Culla Tissa and a group of
lay pilgrims made their way Bodh Gaya in about 100 BCE. King
Silakala of Sri Lanka (518 -531) spent his youth as a novice
in one of Bodh Gaya's monasteries. The last Sri Lankan we
know of to have visited Bodh Gaya until modern times came
in the second half of the 15th century. This monk, named Dharmadivakara,
went to Bodh Gaya and then decided to go on from there to
Wu Tai Shan in China. While at the sacred mountain he met
some Tibetans who invited him to their country where he travelled
and taught widely. However, the strain of several long years
of travel, the strange food and the cold climate all proved
too much for poor Dharmadivakara for we read that on his way
back to Sri Lanka he disrobed in Nepal and later died in India.
But Sri Lankans were not just enthusiastic about going to
Bodh Gaya on pilgrimage, they also did much to make it a vibrant
and thriving centre of Buddhism. When, during the first half
of the 4th century CE, the younger brother of King Meghavana
(304-332) went on pilgrimage to India he found it difficult
to get proper accommodation. On his return to Sri Lanka he
mentioned this to his brother the king who decided to ask
the Indian ruler for permission to build pilgrims' rests at
all the holy places. Permission was given to build one such
establishment and thus the great Mahabodhi Monastery came
to be built at Bodh Gaya on the north side of the Temple compound.
An inscribed copper plaque above the door of this monastery
announced that hospitality was to be given to everyone who
came. It read, "To help all without distinction is the
highest teaching of all the Buddhas". In later centuries
the Mahabodhi Monastery grew into a great monastic university
on a par with Nalanda and Vikramasila and became the premier
centre for the study of Theravada Buddhism in India. Buddhaghosa
wrote both the Atthasalani and the now lost Nanodaya at this
monastery before going to Sri Lanka. Other famous names associated
with it include the Chinese monks Chin-hung and Hsuan-chao,
the south Indian monk Dharmapala, author of the Madyamakacatuhsatika,
and the Kashmiri Tantric siddha Ratnavajra. Tsami Lotsawa
Sangye Trak is described in one ancient book as "the
only Tibetan ever to hold the chair at Vajrasana" suggesting
that he was a professor at the university. The last Therevadin
monk whose name is mentioned in connection with the Mahabodhi
Monastery is the Sri Lankan pundit Anandasri who subsequently
lived and taught in Tibet. He is eulogised in one Tibetan
book as "...foremost amongst the many thousands in the
sangha of the island of Simhala, a disciple of Dipankara,
residing at Vajrasana, a great scholar... skilled in two languages,
one who seeks the benefit of the sangha, the excellent one".
As Anandasri was translating Pali text in the Land of Snows
at the very beginning of the 14th century, it is likely that
he was teaching at Bodh Gaya at least up to the end of the
13th century, proof that the university still functioned at
that time.
Sri Lankans were also ready to help when the Temple needed
repairs. A Tibetan work, the Mkhas-pa'i dga-ston, mentions
a Tibetan yogi named Ugyen Sangge who, during one of his frequent
trips to India, made contact with the king of Sri Lanka and
repaired the Mahabodhi Temple with his help. This is said
to have happened around the year 1286. The Mkhas-pa'i dga-ston
also says that while the work was being done Ugyen Sangge
stayed to the north of the Temple with 500 other yogis. This
must be a reference to the Mahabodhi Monastery and its inmates
and we cannot doubt that it was they who put Ugyen Sangge
into contact with the Sri Lankan king in the first place and
that they had a major role in the repairs. Given the Sri Lankan
Buddhists' deep regard for Bodh Gaya it is not surprising
that it was yet again a Sri Lankan, Anagarika Dharmapala,
who began the struggle to restore the Temple in 1893 and who
build the first modern pilgrims' rest at Bodh Gaya. Like the
Sri Lankans the Burmese have long been coming to Bodh Gaya
and on at least four occasions have renovated or repaired
the Temple. In 1100 King Kyanzittha " got together jewels
of diverse kind and sent them in a ship with intent to build
up the holy temple of Vajrasana, the great temple built by
Asoka, which had fallen utter ruin. His Majesty proceeded
to build it anew, making it finer than ever before" Three
centuries later in 1471 King Dhammacetiya got "monks
endowed with study and practice to embark at Bassein together
with skilled masons, painters and builders, much treasure,
royal letters written on gold under the authority of his seal
and ambassadors of greater and lesser rank" and sent
them to repair the Temple once again and to make offerings
under the Bodhi Tree.
The
main attraction for pilgrims at Bodh Gaya was the Vajrasana
and the other six locations where the Buddha had stayed. Another
attraction was the Mahabodhi Image, a statue in the Mahabodhi
Temple that was believed to be an exact likeness of the Buddha
himself. The legend concerning the origins of this famous
statue is thus. When the Temple was built it was decided to
enshrine a statue in it but for a long time no sculpture good
enough could be found. One day a man appeared saying that
he could do the job. He asked that a pile a scented clay and
a lighted lamp be put in the Temple sanctum and the door be
locked for six months. This was done but being impatient the
people opened the door four days before the required time.
Inside was found a statue of great beauty, perfect in every
detail except for a small part on the breast that was unfinished.
Sometime later a monk who slept in the sanctum had a dream
in which Maitriya appeared and said that it was he who had
made the statue. The Mahabodhi Image was the most revered
statue in the Buddhist world and is mentioned in records for
nearly a thousand years. The main temples at both Nalanda
and Vikramasila had copies of this statue in them. When the
Chinese envoy Wang Hiuen Ts'e returned home in the 7th century
with a model of the Mahabodhi Image he was swamped with requests
by people wanting to make copies of it. When the great Bengali
pundit Atisa was in Tibet in the 11th century he sent a message
back to Vikramasila in India asking that a painting of the
Mahabodhi Image be made and sent to him. A Buddha statue the
same dimensions as the Image is enshrined in the great stupa
at Gyantse. The measurements for this copy were obtained from
Sariputra, the last monk from Bodh Gaya when he was passing
through Tibet in 1413. The Tibetan Tantric siddha Man-luns-po
mentions seeing the Mahabodhi Image when he was in Bodh Gaya
in 1300 and another pilgrim, Jinadasa of Parvata, came and
worshipped it some time during the 15th century. But after
that we here no more of it. The statue now on the Vajrasana
inside the Mahabodhi Temple was found in the ruins and placed
there by Cunningham in 1880. It dates from about the 10th
century.
There were also colourful festivals to attract pilgrims. The
most important of these was at Vesakha in May when people
would worship the Bodhi Tree. Hiuen Tsiang wrote, " On
this day princes , monks and lay people come of their own
accord in myriads to the Bodhi Tree and bathe it with scented
water and milk to the accompaniment of music, flowers are
offered and lights are kept continually burning". The
Kathina festival at the end of the rainy season in October
went for seven days and attracted large numbers of monks and
nuns, while the third festival was an exhibition of relics.
When pilgrims returned home they wanted of course to take
souvenirs and mementoes with them. Several small models of
the Mahabodhi Temple made of stone have been found which are
thought to have been made for the pilgrim trade. Another popular
souvenir were seeds and leaves from the Bodhi Tree. A 13th
century inscription from Pagan in Burma mentions pilgrims
returning from Bodh Gaya with such seeds. The Chinese monk
Kwang Yuen returned from India in 982 with several leaves
and in 1009 an Indian monk arrived at the Chinese court and
presented the emperor with several leaves from the Bodhi Tree
and an impression of the Vajrasana.
The
popularity of pilgrimage gave rise to a whole body of literature,
mainly stutras praising the holy places and exhorting the
faithful to visit them. There were also mahatyaya or guide
books to help pilgrims find there way and to inform of the
times of particular festivals. The 14th century Tibetan scholar
Jamdun Rigpel Rilti is said to have written a guide book to
Bodh Gaya but unfortunately this work is now lost. Ancient
Buddhist maps always showed either Mount Meru or Bodh Gaya
in their centre. The most famous of these is the Gotenjiku
Zu, Map of the Five Indias, drawn by the Japanese monk Juaki
in 1364. This map is based carefully on Hiuan Tsiang's account
of his pilgrimage to India and indeed even marks his route
with a red line. Mount Meru and Lake Anotatta with the traditional
four rivers flowing out of it is shown in the centre while
Bodh Gaya is located towards the south-east The purpose of
maps like the Gotenjiku Zu was didactic and scholarly rather
than practical but route maps meant to be used by those going
to India existed too. One of the few such maps that survives,
from northern Thailand, was drawn in the 19th century although
based on a much earlier prototype, probably by someone who
had actually been to India. The map shows important pilgrimage
sites like Rajgir, Kusinara, Campa and Dona's stupa, and gives
their direction and the number of days needed to reach them
from the Mahabodhi Temple, which is depicted in the centre
of the map.
It is widely believed that Bodh Gaya's temples and monasteries
were destroyed soon after the Muslim invasion of India in
1199. There is no evidence to support this belief. On the
contrary, records show that Bodh Gaya continued to function
as a centre of Buddhist scholarship and pilgrimage up to at
least the beginning of the 15th century. When Dharmasvamin
came in 1234 there were still 300 Sri Lankan monks in the
Mahabodhi Monastery. Shortly before his visit some Muslim
soldiers had tried to steal the gems from the eyes of the
Mahabodhi Image but this seems to have been just a part of
a brief smash and grab raid that did little other damage.
Twenty eight years later King Jayasena donated some land in
trust to Mangalasvamin, the abbot of the Sri Lankan monastery.
In 1298 a party of Burmese came to make offerings at the Bodhi
Tree and to repair the Temple. They were helped in what they
did by the resident monks. If you look at the paving stones
on the floor inside the Mahabodhi Temple you will notice some
have inscriptions and drawings on them. These were made between
1302 and 1331 by groups of pilgrims from Sindh. At the beginning
of the 15th century Cingalaraja repaired some of Bodh Gaya's
shrines with the help of a monk named Sariputra and shortly
after this an embassy from the emperor of China arrived with
a letter for Sariputra, inviting him to visit that country.
Records mention Sariputra passing through Kathmandu in 1412
and Gyantse in Tibet the following year. This is the last
mention until the 19th century of monks actually residing
at Bodh Gaya although a trickle of pilgrims kept coming. In
1427 the Indian Tantric siddha Vanaratana planned to go to
Bodh Gaya to erect a statue of his teacher but fear of being
attacked by bandits made him cancel his trip. There is no
doubt that Bodh Gaya endured at least two attacks by Muslims
but the monks survived these and continued with their meditation
and study. However with the stream of pilgrims gradually drying
up and royal patronage no longer forthcoming, staying at Bodh
Gaya became increasingly difficult and one by one the monks
and nuns drifted away and Bodh Gaya was deserted.
Sometime
in perhaps the 16th or 17th centuries a Hindu swami settled
down near the crumbling Mahabodhi Temple and being ignorant
of the true identities of the Buddha statues scattered around,
began worshipping them as Hindu gods. This swami's successors
, the Mahants, eventually became powerful and wealthy and began
to look upon the Mahabodhi Temple as their private property.
In 1877 the king of Burma received permission from the British
Government to repair the Mahabodhi Temple and soon after sent
a large delegation of officials and craftsmen to do the work.
Knowing nothing of archaeology these Burmese did enormous damage
and destroyed much important evidence about the Temple's history.
Finally, at the insistence of Alexander Cunningham, the then
Director General of the Archaeological Survey, the government
intervened and did the job at a total cost of 100,000 rupees.
In 1891 a young man named Anagarika Dharmapala came to Bodh
Gaya to worship the place where the Buddha had attained enlightenment.
He expected to be inspired and uplifted by such a holy place
but all he saw were greedy brahmins nagging him for money and
local people using the Temple compound as a toilet. He was deeply
shocked and being of strong faith and abundant energy he then
and there conceived the audacious idea of restoring Bodh Gaya
to its former glory. This immediately put Dharmapala on a collision
course with the Mahant and his minions. Until his death in 1932
he struggled on ,often alone, through physical attacks and court
cases, despite reversals and disappointments, but never lost
sight of his noble goal. Finally in 1949, mainly due to the
efforts of Mahabodhi Society, the organisation Dharmapala had
founded to continue his work, the Bodh Gaya Act was passed,
making provision for the setting up of a committee of four Hindus
and four Buddhists to manage the affairs of the Temple. Even
today this arrangement is far from satisfactory and is still
the cause of problems which can only be resolved when Buddhists
alone administer the Temple built on the spiritual and geographical
heart of their religion.
