India Guide
Bihar and Jharkhand
The Mahabodhi Temple
Price: Camera Rs20, video Rs500
Opening time: Daily 5am–9pm
The elegant single spire of the Mahabodhi Temple rises to a lofty height of 55m. Within the temple complex, which is liberally sprinkled with small stupas and shrines, the main brick temple stands in a hollow encircled by a stone railing dating from the second century BC. This World Heritage Site exudes an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity. Extensively renovated during the nineteenth century, it's supposedly a replica of a seventh-century structure that stood on the site of Ashoka's original third-century BC shrine. Inside the temple, a single chamber holds a large gilded image of the Buddha, while upstairs is a balcony and a small, plain meditation chamber.
At the rear of the temple to the west, the large Bodhi Tree grows out of an expansive base, attracting scholars and meditators. However, the tree is only a distant offshoot of the one under which Buddha attained enlightenment – the original was destroyed by Ashoka before his conversion to Buddhism. His daughter Sanghamitra took a sapling to Sri Lanka and planted it at Anuradhapura, where its offshoots were nurtured. A cutting was later brought back to Bodhgaya and replanted. Pilgrims tie coloured thread to its branches and Tibetans accompany their rituals with long lines of butter lamps. A sandstone slab with carved sides next to the tree is believed to be the Vajrasana, or "thunder-seat", upon which the Buddha sat facing east.
The small white Animesh Lochana Temple to the right of the compound entrance marks the spot where the Buddha stood and gazed upon the Bodhi Tree in gratitude. Numerous ornate stupas from the Pala period (seventh to twelfth centuries) are littered around the grounds and next to the temple compound to the south is a rectangular lotus pool where the Buddha is believed to have bathed.
Entry to the temple complex is from the east; shoes are tolerated within the grounds but not inside the temple: they can be left at the entrance for a small donation.