The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c9.34

c9.34

The most noteworthy example of a "Vishnu" shrine, and one of the earliest now existing, is the famous Buddhist temple of Bodh-Gayâ, built in honour of the Bodhi tree (Vishnu's tree), and of Buddha as the Upholder of the Universe. Not many years ago the possession of the shrine was the subject of a great controversy in which the Government of Bengal opposed the claims of the Mahant of a neighbouring Vaishnavaite monastery to its custody. The official experts seem to have misapprehended the historical aspects of the case, and, as so frequently happens when history is misread, led the Government into a false position with regard to the religious traditions of India.