Historical Geography of Ancient India c8.149

c8.149

Bodh-Gayā (Buddha-Gayā).—Its ancient name was Uruvilva or Uruvelā which stood for a great sand bank, according to Buddhaghosa (mahāvelā). According to the Samantapāsādikā (V. 952), whenever any evil thought arose in any one person, he was instructed to carry a handful of sand to a place nearby. The sand thus carried gradually formed a great bank. It is situated six miles to the south of Gayā. The distance from Buddha-Gayā to Gayā was three gāvutas, i.e., a little more than six miles (Papañcasūdanī, II, p. 188). It was called Buddha-Gayā because here Gautama Buddha attained the perfect enlightenment under the famous Bo-tree. The Bodh-Gayā Inscription of Mahānāman (the year 169) mentions the famous Buddhist site at Bodh-Gayā (C.I.I., Vol. III, No. 71, pp. 274ff.). In this inscription the enclosure round the Bo-tree is mentioned as the Bodhimaṇḍa. In a postscript of a Bodh-Gayā inscription we find that a gold embroidered Kāṣāya (yellow garment) was brought by a Chinese pilgrim to be hung in the Mahābodhi-vihāra.