Bodh Gaya, the Punyabhoomy

by Rupa Banduwardena

With a heritage of glorious history, Bodh Gaya stands out as the most unique venue. World renowned for its sacred serene location it was where Prince Siddhartha sat in meditation to seek the truth. Here he attained his goal. His journey in search of truth came to an end victoriously. He was blessed with the supreme Enlightenment. He was determined to preach what he had realised.

A view of Bodh Gaya

Ever since it became the most venerated sacred spot. Bodh Gaya has been hailed as the most revered place in the universe with the proud possession of a great marvel unparalleled in history. Not only one, it is a place of many marvels purely religious and sacred pertaining to the Buddha. His doctrine and the message of Dhamma was for the entire humanity. It was revealed to all mankind at Bodh Gaya. After Englihtenment he lived here disseminating his Dhamma displaying his wisdom, intellect and masterly knowledge of the doctrine.

Holy places

Bodh Gaya, as indicated by The Buddha, during Parinibbana has been declared as one of the four holy places to be worshipped by Buddhists. The other three places being his birth place – Lumbini, Saranath and Kusinara.

It is believed that Buddhists who visit these sacred venues will never see the sight of four hells (Sathasa Apaya) as all their sins will be washed away with their visit to Bodh Gaya.

The Sri Maha Bodhi where Prince Siddhartha sat in his search of bliss to be free from Jara, Vyadi and Marana has been preserved in the best possible way for the worship of millions of people the world over. It is the most sanctified place of pilgrimage for Buddhists, thanks to the royal patronage of the great Emperor Asoka who worked tirelessly to restore many sacred venues.

A rock edict mentions his visit to Bodh Gaya in the 3rd century BC and it is believed that he built a shrine with a canopy over Vajrasana, the seat of Enlightenment. The sacred Bodhi is recently surrounded by a golden railing built by the late President R. Premadasa.

Next, the adjoining temple rises gracefully to a height of 52 metres in the form of a pyramid on a basement of 15 metre square. The temple architecture is remarkable. The temple stands tall and strong.

Glittering image

The greatest attraction in the inner chamber is the glittering image of the Buddha touching the ground pose (Bhumi Sparsha Mudra).

A close study had revealed that it was Bosat Maitriya who had made the statue. It is truly a divine creation, resembling the Buddha the exact way, built at the exact place of Enlightenment.

The serene statue is even more glittering though it is believed to be over 1,700 years old. The first Chinese Bhikkhu Fa Hsien and also another Tibetan scholar Bhikkhu Dharmaswami provided much information about the past history of Bodh Gaya, how it had been saved from Turushkar the dreadful enemies and plunderers.

Another prominent figure was Anagarika Dharmapala who travelled to Bodh Gaya to secure it to the custody of the Buddhist world from anti-Buddhists. He established the Mahabodhi Society of India in 1891 and built the modern pilgrims rest at Bodh Gaya rendering a great service to modern day pilgrims.

The other important places connected to this Punyabhoomi are the six locations where the Buddha continued to meditate for seven weeks in gratitude for his final search of the supreme truth. These sacred spots are found around the Bodhi premises. The venue described as a beautiful site still retains its traditional and scenic charm with well laid out lawns by the state government of India to be venerated by Buddhists.

The Buddha's words are more applicable today than anytime in the history.