Prince Siddhartha became the Buddha (literally, “the Enlightened One“) in 589 BCE after achieving enlightenment while meditating beneath the Bo tree in Bodh Gaya.
Historical Background of Mahabodhi Temple
Only the Vajrasana (Diamond Throne), a stone slab beneath the Bodhi tree next to the temple, is left of the humble shrine that Emperor Ashoka built to commemorate the location in the third century BCE. During the Shunga period (second to first century BCE), more buildings were constructed.
Three Buddhist monasteries surrounded the temple in Gaya, according to the fifth-century Chinese traveler Faxian (also called Fa Hien). However, the existing pyramidal structure dates back to the sixth-century CE Gupta era. With the exception of a statue of Avaloktishvara, Hiuen Tsang referred to it as a Buddhist site and is reported to have discovered only Buddhist artifacts there.
The last significant royal benefactors of the Mahabodhi temple were the Palas (8th–12th century CE).
The 13th-century Bakhtiyar Khilji invasion brought about a change in circumstances. The collapse of Buddhism started when the invasion brought an end to the Pala kingdom. The Bodh Gaya Mutt was founded in 1590 by a Hindu monk under Akbar’s rule. As a result, the temple fell into the hands of Hindus.
Religious Significance to Buddhists and Hindus
In his famous poem “The Light of Asia,” renowned poet Edwin Arnold describes Gautam Siddharth’s enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree. In many respects, Bodh Gaya popularized Buddhism in the West and was referred to as the Mecca of Buddhism.
Lord Buddha as the ninth reincarnation of Lord Vishnu
Roots of the Dispute
These demonstrations are the most recent development in a long-running conflict for ownership of one of Buddhism’s holiest places. The Bodh Gaya Temple Act, 1949 (BGTA), which now governs the temple, should be repealed, according to Buddhists.
In order to settle a long-running conflict between the Hindu and Buddhist leaders of the Mahabodhi temple over sovereignty of the same, the Bihar government passed the BTA. The requirement that the district magistrate, who served as the ex-officio chairman, could only take over as leader if he was a member of the Hindu community infuriated the Buddhist side. After the State government altered the rule and added a clause allowing the ex-officio chairman to be of any faith, it changed in 2013.
Government’s Role
In the 1880s, Alexander Cunningham, the founder of the Archaeological Survey of India, started restoring the shrine, which was in poor condition. The Mahabodhi temple was mainly abandoned between the 13th and 19th centuries, according to the UNESCO website, which designated it a World Heritage Site in 2002.
Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Bihar chief minister at the time, drafted the Bodh Gaya Mahvihara Bill in the early 1990s to replace the BTA. It was intended to transfer temple management to the Buddhist community. The Bill forbade Hindu marriages within the temple and idol immersions close to it. But the Bill was placed in cold storage.
Thirteen years after two monks petitioned the Supreme Court in 2012 to have the BGTA repealed, the case has not yet been listed.
