Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s2.t3: Bodhgaya
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s2.t3
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Bodhgaya
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Bodhgaya is the place where Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment. It is one of the four holiest sites which Buddha himself recommended his disciples to visit for pilgrimage. The other three are Sarnath, Lumbini and Kushinara. Bodhgaya is originally a village at the fringes of the ancient city of Gaya and not far from Nalanda, Rajagriha and Patliputra (Patna) in southern Bihar.
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It was historically known as Uruvela and was situated at the banks of River Niranjana (Lilanjan) which merged with the holy River Falgu that flowed past the city of Gaya. According to 5th century commentator Dharmapala, the name Uruvela derived from the abundance of sand (*vela*). Others link its name to the existence of a or many vilva trees (Aegie marmelas) there. Archaeological excavations of the local village site, however, reveal that it was an area with human settlement dating at par with Indus Civilisation of about 4,500 years ago.
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After its linkages with Gautam Buddha and the disappearance of its original name due to disuse, it was referred to differently as the city of Smbodhi [Complete Enlightenment], Bodhimanda [Enclosure containing the holy Bodhi tree], Vajrasana [Diamond throne] or Mahabodhi [Perfect Knowledge/ Enlightenment] until its present name Bodhgaya gained popularity after the rediscovery of this site with a large temple and other ruins in the early 19^th century.
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*Bodhgaya, Bihar, India*
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Sambodhi is the first name used for the Uruvela village in an Asokan Rock Edict of 256 BCE. Another name Bodhimanda refers to a circular area around the Bodhi tree which was, according to Kalingabodhi Jataka, covered with clean and shining sand without a blade of grass growing on it with surrounding trees and shrubs bending in its deference. The name, *Vajrasan*, derives from the famous "Diamond Throne" meditation seat, sitting over which Buddha received enlightenment. However, Mahabodhi was the most commonly used name until the rediscovery of the site in the mid-19^th century.
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According to Buddhist texts, more than 2,550 years ago, Siddharth Gautam spent six years in Uruvela [Bodhgaya] subjecting himself to intense penance and fasting. Failing to attain the required knowledge, he accepted the rice pudding from a local woman devotee Sujata who lived just across the Niranjana River. Finally after deep meditation for three days under a peepal tree, he attained enlightenment and became the Buddha on *Vaishakh Purnima* (full moon day in April-May). He then spent seven weeks in seven different sites here in contemplation before setting off to Sarnath in Varanasi to announce his newly discovered knowledge, wisdom and truth. From Sarnath, he returned to Uruvela again on the way to Rajgriha. He met here three ascetic brothers, Nadi Kasspa, Gaya Kassap and Uruvela Kaasap. Deeply impressed by his serenity and wisdom, they along with their 1,000 disciples requested to be ordained as monks and proceeded to Rajgriha with him. Buddha probably never returned to this place again.
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The holy site of Bodhgaya initially developed around the Bodhi tree and the Vajrasana. The Bodhitree shrine, which later became the Mahabodhi Mahavihara [temple], was built by the Emperor Asoka in the 3^rd century BCE. The structure of the temple underwent many changes over the time. During the Sunga period (2^nd-1^st centuries BCE) a two storied structure enclosing the tree and a *stupa* were erected and the stone meditation seat was decorated with a diamond-shaped design pattern. The original Mahabodhi temple [mulagandhakuti] had been built by the second half of the 6th century CE, with extension and addition during the Pala-Sen dynasty (10^th-12^th centuries CE).
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Bodhgaya had become a famous Buddhist pilgrim centre by the time of Asoka whose visit to the city of Sambodhi [Bodhgaya] is recorded. Since Buddha's time, patronised by men and women of both royal and commoner households as well as by monks and seekers of knowledge, it has been at the centre of the Buddhist pilgrimage map. Among famous earliest visitors from abroad, one finds evidence of Sri Lankan monk Culla Tissa and a group of lay pilgrims making their way to Bodhgaya in about 100 BCE. Inscriptions and other material evidences indicate visit and renovation of this place by disciples from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China, Nepal, Tibet, Sumatra, Vietnam and other Buddhist countries. In 4th century CE, Sri Lankans built the great Mahabodhi Monastery which later grew into a great monastic university for the study of Theravada Buddhism. Buddhaghosa wrote both the Atthasalani and the now lost Nanodaya at this monastery. Other famous names associated with it include Chinese monks Ijing, Jin Hong and Xuan Chao, south Indian monk Dharmapala, who was the author of the *Madyamakacatuhsatika*, Kashmiri scholar Ratnavajra, Tibetan Tsami Lotsawa Sangye Trak, Sri Lankan Anandashri etc. Chinese traveller-monks Faxian and Xuanzang provide the earliest detailed description of the place identifying areas of its sacred sites. The last one to write about the place was Tibetan scholar-monk Dharmasvamin who came there in 1234 CE and found the place deserted with only four monks staying there. A series of attacks by Indo-Turkic rulers since the 12th century led to its fast decay.
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The railings of the Bodhi temple at Bodhgaya
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Rediscovered during the colonial period in a decayed state, its restoration commenced first by Francis Buchanan in 1811-12 and finally, in 1881 by J D Beglar under the supervision of Alexander Cunningham. After the initial renovation of the temple, the first International Buddhist Conference was held in Bodhgaya in 1891. This brought this famous sacred site once again on the pilgrim tourist map. In 1956, the 2,500 the anniversary of Buddha was celebrated here under the auspices of the Government of India with participation by a large number of representatives from different Buddhist sects and countries. In 2002, the Mahabodhi Temple complex was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bodhgaya is now fast developing as an internationally recognised Buddhist religious and pilgrim centre with Buddhist chanting in different languages of various countries buzzing the area and temples, monasteries and parks of different Buddhist sects and countries being erected all over the place.
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(*Kamal Sheel*)
Linked texts (1)
- Jātaka — Pāli