Bodh Gaya: The Se of the Buddha’s Enlightenment (article) | Khan Amy

Contents:

• MAHABODHI TEMPLE COMPLEX AT BODH GAYA
• BODH GAYA: THE SE OF THE BUDDHA’S ENLIGHTENMENT
• MAHABODHI TEMPLE, BODH GAYA
• 7 MYSTIL TEMPL TO VIS GAYA
• BODH GAYA
• TOURIST PLACE BODH GAYA

MAHABODHI TEMPLE COMPLEX AT BODH GAYA

The Mahabodhi Temple Complex, Bodh Gaya li 115 km south of the state pal of Bihar, Patna and 16 km om the district headquarters at Gaya, Eastern India. The prent Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya pris the 50 m high grand Temple, the Vajrasana, sacred Bodhi Tree and other six sacred s of Buddha's enlightenment, surround by numero ancient Votive stupas, well mataed and protected by ner, middle and outer circular boundari. Crern (vi): The Mahabodhi Temple Complex Bodh Gaya has direct associatn wh the life of the Lord Buddha, beg the place where He attaed the supreme and perfect sight.

AuthenticyThe belief that Buddha had attaed Enlightenment this particular place has been nfirmed by tradn and is now lled Bodh Gaya, this is of supreme value to the world. Buddhist texts of both Theravadhan and Mahayanan tradns have clear reference of this event of Buddha's enlightenment at Bodh Gaya.

Buddhists om all over the world today venerate Bodh Gaya as the holit place of Buddhist pilgrimage the world. On the basis of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act of 1949, the State Government is rponsible for the management and protectn of the property through Bodhgaya Temple Management Commtee (BTMC) and Advisory Board. All velopmental activi wh the premis of this World Herage property and at Bodhgaya are guid by the l and regulatns of the Se Management Plan amed by the Government of Bihar.

BODH GAYA: THE SE OF THE BUDDHA’S ENLIGHTENMENT

Proposals will need to be preced by Herage Impact Asssments and a particular challenge will be to ntuoly monor the impact that potential velopments of the area as a whole, cludg the town, may have on the relig and spirual signifince of the Bodhgaya Temple Management Commtee also seeks to unrtake a staable approach to the matenance of the property for example utilizatn of solar energy, pollutn ee environment, etc. This extraordary place—Bodh Gaya—is unrstood to be the se of the enlightenment, or “great awakeng” (Sanskr, mahabodhi), of Siddhartha Gtama, the Buddha. More than 2, 500 years later, Bodh Gaya is a sprawlg pilgrimage town nse wh ancient, medieval, and morn shr, monasteri, templ, and hotels.

At the heart of ancient Bodh Gaya is the Mahabodhi Temple Complex, which is by wh shr, monuments, and sculpted imag tablished over more than 2, 000 years.

Siddhartha Gtama arrived at Bodh Gaya middle age, havg renounced his life as a prce on seeg the “four sights” of agg, sickns, ath, and asceticism. Buddhist tradns diverge on some of this acunt but this moment and the place at which occurred, unr the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, is signifint to all Buddhist tradns. As the place where the Buddha attaed enlightenment, Bodh Gaya appears to have bee a signifint place for Buddhists soon after the ath of the Buddha and the formatn of the Buddhist muny of monks and nuns (Sanskr, sangha) and lay people.

MAHABODHI TEMPLE, BODH GAYA

Very ltle is known, however, about the earlit stctur at Bodh Gaya, and centuri of addn and alteratn make difficult to image how this se appeared at any particular moment the past. [2] The stone railgs enclosg a scennt of this tree at Bodh Gaya today likely date to the 1st century B.

In some Buddhist tradns Bodh Gaya self is referred to simply as the “Diamond Throne” (Sanskr, vajrasana), ditg the signifince of this throne to the inty of this sacred se. Bharhut relief wh Diamond throne and Mahabodhi Temple around the Boddhi Tree (om Sir Alexanr Cunngham, Mahâbodhi, or the great Buddhist temple unr the Bodhi tree at Buddha-Gaya, 1892).

The empty throne unr the tree often acted as a sign for both the absent prence of the Buddha and for Bodh Gaya as a sacred se. This broadly agre wh the scriptn of Mahabodhi Temple given by the Che pilgrim Xuanzang who vised Bodh Gaya centuri later, at the end of the 7th century C.

7 MYSTIL TEMPL TO VIS GAYA

Depictns of the Mahabodhi Temple also suggt the creasg importance of the temple hog the Buddha image s own right as a sign for Bodh Gaya and the events there, although the Diamond Throne and the Bodhi tree ntue to be picted alongsi them.

BODH GAYA

” The scriptns, the pictns of the Mahabodhi Temple art, and other evince for royal and foreign-sponsored programs of rtoratn suggt an important shift om tree shre to the buildg of templ, shr, and monasteri at Bodh Gaya over the urse of the 1st lennium C. The towerg brick, stuc and ncrete temple seen at Bodh Gaya today pris a large primary straight-sid spire (Sanskr, shikhara), risg out of a central image chamber (Sanskr, garbha-griha).

The late 19th-century rtoratn of the Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya ma signifint alteratns to the se, however.

Each of the stctur imate the form of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, though they vary style, buildg technology, and materials. It is likely that some of the replis were built om the rellectns of pilgrims, if not on even small portable artworks and “mols” rried away om Bodh Gaya such as that shown mol of the temple at The Metropolan Mm of Art. This replitn of Bodh Gaya the medieval and early morn perd Asia fds an earlier precent the acunt given the Sri Lankan chronicle (mahavamsa) which rerds how a branch of the Bodhi tree was brought to Sri Lanka and planted the cy of Anuradhapura the time of Kg Ashoka, where s scendant grows to this day.

TOURIST PLACE BODH GAYA

Internatnal tert Bodh Gaya creased om the 1880s onwards, particularly after the Archaeologil Survey of India rtored and landsped much of the Mahabodhi Temple Complex. Today at least forty different Buddhist anizatns are reprented Bodh Gaya—a town wh a mostly Hdu and Mlim populatn.