Tracing Buddha 7-week journey at Mahabodhi Temple Complex after attaining nirvana

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya is a pertinent pilgrimage site for the Buddhists and for all the followers of Gautam Buddha. A remarkable prince and sage, Buddha toiled throughout his life to spiritually uplift as many people as he could. Although there are a few places related to his life journey, the Mahabodhi Temple Complex is a special site. It was constructed at the behest of Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century, and later, it was renovated and expanded by the kings of the Gupta dynasty.

Timeline of Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya

The temple is one of the most prominent temples in India. The significant events that occurred on its timeline are as under:

531 BC – Buddha attained the perfect state of enlightenment while being seated in meditation under a Bodhi tree at the site of Mahabodhi Temple Complex.

260 BC – Emperor Asoka visited the site of Bodhi tree to worship it, and made the first temple for honouring Gautam Buddha.

Gautam Buddha attainted enlightenment or nirvana and spent a span of seven weeks after that across various spots where the Mahabodhi Temple stands today. From battling the inner and external demons during his meditation to fiercely resisting the various temptations that came his way, Buddha covered great milestones in his inner sacred journey at different parts of the Mahabodhi temple. Ahead, we throw some light on the seven weeks he spent post nirvana.

Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya

The Bodhi Tree is the most illustrious site situated to the west of the main temple. It is believed to the direct descendant of the Bodhi Tree underneath which the Buddha stayed for the first week after attaining enlightenment.

Prayer Hall

Buddha spent his second week at the prayer hall, also known as Animeshlochan Chaitya. It can be found towards the north of the central path on a raised platform.

Jewelled Ambulatory

This jewelled ambulatory is also called Ratnachakrama. It is famous for being the site where the Buddha spent the third week of his internal journey walking eighteen steps back and forward. It is located near the north wall of the main temple.

Ratnaghar Chaitya

Located towards the north-east near the enclosure, Ratnaghar Chaitya is the place where the Buddha spent his fourth week.

Ajapala Nigrodh Tree

During his fifth week, the Buddha was meditating under Ajapala Nigrodh Tree and answered the questions posed by the Brahmins.

Lotus Pond

The sixth week was spent by Gautam Buddha at the Lotus pond situated outside the enclosure to the south of the temple complex.

Rajyatana Tree

Buddha was here during his seventh week of meditation. A tree has been planted to mark this site. It is located towards the south-east of the temple.

The Main Temple at the Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya is a masterpiece that showcases the best of Buddhism architectural creativity. Whether you are a Buddhist or not, you will find this place interesting to visit. So visit it and be blessed with one of the most sacred religious places in India.


HERITAGE: THE TREE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Source:-dawn.com

Archaeologists may find history on the ocean floor, inside caves and buried underground. But it is also interesting to see how a living tree has shaped human history.

In the subcontinent, particularly in India, the Peepal (ficus Religiosa or Banyan) tree is known as the Bodhi or wisdom tree. Men of legend and faith, Lord Buddha and King Ashoka, have sat under it in meditation. Mahatma Gautama attained Buddhahood (enlightenment) sitting under the shade of the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya in India and hence it is known as the Mahabodhi tree or the tree of great awakening.

A direct linear descendant of the Mahabodhi tree was presented to President Ayub Khan when he visited Sri Lanka in December 1963. Zulifqar Ali Bhutto, then the foreign minister of Pakistan planted the sapling in a simple ceremony on January 18, 1964, in the Taxila Museum.

“We have failed to receive the boon we should have from the Mahabodhi tree here in Pakistan,” laments Dr Saifur Rehman Dar, celebrated author, archaeologist and former Director General Department of Archaeology and Museums (DOAM) Punjab. At the time of the plantation of this living relic of Gautama Buddha in Taxila, Dar was the museum curator.

Buddhists have great reverence for all religious relics such as the bodily remains of the Buddha, left over after his cremation. They erected stupas over the remains. The Dharmarajika Stupa in Taxila is one of the eight erected by Ashoka to contain the remains of the Sakya Muni.

It is in the same tradition that the Bodhi tree is revered. Since it is a living plant, it is said to be a living connection to Mahatama Budha and the event of his finding enlightenment sitting under it. It is believed that the Buddha sat meditating under the tree for seven weeks without food or water. And after attaining enlightenment, Buddha spent seven days standing in front of the tree gazing at it with gratitude. Buddhists consider the tree as an individual in its own right and it is venerated and approached with piety.

In fact, the original Mahabodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India was killed thrice in recorded history. The first time was around 230 BC, when Tissarakkha, the jealous second wife of Mauryan Emperor Ashoka the Great, destroyed it with poisonous Mandu Thorns.

According to the seventh-century Chinese traveller Xuanzang, who wrote of the tree in detail, the tree was again cut down in the second century BC by King Pushyamitra Sunga, a violent ruler and persecutor of Buddhist beliefs. The last time was in 600 CE by King Shashanka, when Budhism went into decline and survived only outside India in Tibet, China, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Far East and Japan.

There is considerable doubt whether the present tree in the Sri Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, is really a scion of the original tree. Indeed, the present Mahabodhi tree, planted at the original location in 1881 by British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham — after the earlier one was destroyed in a storm in 1876 — likely represents the successor of a long line of substitutions.

Fortunately, Mauryan Emperor Ashoka’s son Mahindra, and a Buddhist nun Sanghamitta Maha Theri — said to be Ashoka’s daughter and accordingly called a princess — had brought the southern branch of the original Mahabodhi tree from Bodh Gaya to Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka in 236 BC. According to Buddhist sources, the Buddha had resolved five things on his death bed; one being that the branch that detaches itself from the tree should be taken to Sri Lanka for propagation. This tree lives on and is called the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi. The Mahabodhi tree in the Taxila Museum is a plant cloned from the Sri Mahabodhi tree and is the closest authentic link to the living Buddha.

It is, however, unfortunate that the Mahabodhi tree in Taxila has been neglected and starved of sunshine. Surrounded by tall trees in the backyard of the Taxila Museum, it has grown tall and lanky like a reed. Dar suggests the DOAM should consult experts to ensure the Mahabodhi tree is nourished to good health. “It is a national treasure and will go a long way in attracting more Buddhist tourists to Taxila and Gandhara,” he says.

The current curator Taxila Museum, Mohammad Nasir Khan, says the impression that the Bodhi tree has been forgotten is incorrect. “Recently, we had the cement removed from around the Bodhi tree so that it has only soil around its roots and the trunk. A safety enclosure has also been constructed round it to keep it safe from being vandalised or accidently damaged by visitors to the museum.”

The executive director of the Centre for Culture and Development Dr Nadeem Omar Tarar believes that the DOAM should form a committee of experts to ensure care for the Mahabodhi tree in Taxila. “They should try to root cuttings from it, rather than have a significant cultural marker of Buddhism grow in isolation in the backyard of the museum,” he says. Tarar has been working to promote a revival of Gandhara art, culture and scholarship in Pakistan to attract religious tourism from abroad. He is also rallying support to use the Taxila Mahabodhi tree for scion wood (a technique used for grafting) to establish Mahabodhi trees at all the important Buddhist sites across the greater Gandhara region, starting from the Buddhist temple in Islamabad.

List of ‘iconic tourist sites’ may be reviewed

Source: thehindu.com

The government’s plan to develop 17 ‘iconic tourist sites’ could see some changes, with Union Culture and Tourism Minister of State (independent charge) Prahlad Singh Patel ordering a review of the sites included in the project.

Mr. Patel ordered the setting up of a committee to look into the sites included in the plan, Ministry officials said on Monday.

Changes sought

Last week, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wrote to Mr. Patel asking him to include Odisha’s Konark Sun Temple and Jagannath Temple, Puri.

In July 2018, then Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons had said 17 ‘iconic tourist sites’ would be developed. These were Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh, Ajanta and Ellora caves in Maharashtra, Humayun’s Tomb, Red Fort and Qutub Minar in Delhi, Colva Beach in Goa, Amer Fort in Rajasthan, Somnath and Dholavira in Gujarat, Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, Hampi in Karnataka, Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu, Kaziranga in Assam, Kumarakom in Kerala and Mahabodhi in Bihar.

In her Budget 2019-2020 speech on July 5, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had mentioned the project again.

She said the government was developing “17 iconic tourism sites into world class tourist destinations and to serve as a model for other tourism sites.”

According to her, they iconic tourism sites would “enhance visitor experience which would lead to increased visits of both domestic and international tourists at these destinations.”

Bodh Gaya’s Mahabodhi Temple to Receive New Hi-tech Illumination System

Source: buddhistdoor.net

The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, India, one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in the world, will soon by illuminated by a state-of-the art LED lighting system by the end of this year, with funding for the extraordinary initiative offered by Siddhartha’s Intent India with support from Khyentse Foundation and Vana Foundation. The new lighting system is designed to illuminate every part of the temple in accordance with the highest safety and quality standards to ensure a long-lasting and sustainable solution.

The project, called “Lighting the Mahabodhi,” is one of the largest and most ambitious light-offering initiatives in Buddhist history. According to the Bhutanese newspaper Kuensel, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, founder of Khyentse Foundation, who initiated the lighting project, came up with the idea in 2015, and in 2017 the proposal was approved by the Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee and the Gaya District Magistrate. The total cost of project is around US$1.4 million, with more than 30 per cent of the budget allocated since the project was launched.

“If there is one thing in the world that resembles our minds, it is light,” said Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. “As Buddhists in the Rime tradition, our aim is to illuminate our minds free from judgment, prejudice, or pride. And so, it is to symbolize that realization and to appreciate the Buddha’s infinite compassion and skillful means in guiding us toward it, that we are now offering light at the very place of the Buddha’s enlightenment.” (Kuensel)

The Mahabodhi Temple, one of the most spiritual destinations for Buddhists pilgrims, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site marking the place where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. Beside the temple, there are seven other sacred sites in Bodh Gaya, including the descendent of the original Bodhi tree.

“The atmosphere created by the Mahabodhi Temple is so potent it’s as if you fall into a trance,” explained Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. “Here you’ll find the vajra seat (vajra asana, also known as the Diamond Seat) where, after many years of searching for the truth and six excruciating years of penance by the banks of the Niranjana River, Siddhartha finally discovered the Middle Path and achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. (Khyentse Foundation)

“Centuries have passed since the Buddha attained enlightenment at this spot, and the temple has weathered many eras of both resplendence and shocking neglect. In this present era, the temple has been upgraded, is well tended to, and in comparatively excellent shape,” said the president of Siddhartha’s Intent India, Prashant Varma, in a press release on 31 May. “Lighting the Mahabodhi is building upon this support to update the lighting in a way that will last for generations to come. (Khyentse Foundation)

B-Lit, a lighting design company from Bangkok, Thailand, is providing the design offering free of charge as an offering of devotion. The overall lighting system will include high-end LED technology, as well as software to control and automate the myriad of high-efficiency, low-heat LED bulbs and fixtures.

According to the Khyentse Foundation, the lighting project will incorporate: 

Automated lights that are durable, energy efficient, and ecologically friendly, with minimal light pollution.
• Top technical quality lighting with systematised controls.
 Synchronized with the lunar cycles, and adaptable to the many special rituals and needs of the Mahabodhi Temple.
 Light fittings and fixtures able to withstand changing seasonal and weather conditions.
 Safe and easy operation and maintenance.

“We hope to have part of phase one—the core of the temple lighting—ready by the end of this year,” noted Varma. “We shall then steadily work toward completing all other areas of the temple complex, other than the Sarovar Lake and the new Meditation Park, by the end of 2020.” (Kuensel)