In the 6th century
B.C. Prince Siddhartha Gautama attained Supreme Enlightenment at this Holy
place and became the Buddha. In commemoration thereof, Emperor Asoka set-up
the Vajrasana (Diamond Throne) of polished sandstone representing the seat
of Enlightenment in the 3rd century B.C. Thereafter he built a stupa in
veneration of the Buddha which remained there upto the 2nd century A.D. The
original structure of Mahabodhi Mahavihara Temple was completed in 7th
century A.D. during the reign of Gupta kings. The temple underwent several
restorations, renovations and repairs in subsequent period in which the
Burmese greatly contributed. In 1883, a very thorough and scientific
renovation of the Temple was done under the supervision of the British
Archaeologist Sir A. Cunningham and J.D.M. Beglar and the Indian
Archaeologist Dr. Rajendra Lal Mitra. Again in 1956, on the occasion of
2500th Buddha Jayanti celebrations, the Govt. of India did some repair works
and enlarged the premises of the Mahabodhi Mahavihara. This is the most
sacred place of Buddhist Pilgrimage in the world.
The gold painted statue of Buddha in the sanctum shrine of the Temple is
made of Black stone built by the Pala kings of Bengal. The Buddha is seen
seated in the Bhumisparsa Mudra or the Earth touching posture.
The Mahabodhi Mahavihara has now been declared a World Heritage Site by the
UNESCO on the 27th June 2002.
In the Temple complex, one can also visit the other seven places where the
Buddha spent in meditation after the attainment of Enlightenment. All these
places are situated inside the Temple complex.
The sacred Bodhi tree - the shades under which the Siddhartha Gautama meditated and attained Enlightenment on the full Moon day of Vaisakh Purnima (May month). This peepal tree’s botanical name is Ficus Religiosa. It was under this tree that the Buddha spent the first week in meditation after attaining Enlightenment.
The present tree is probably the fifth succession of the original tree which was earlier destroyed several times by man-made misery and natural calamities.
Vajrasana or the Diamond Throne is the seat of the Buddha’s Enlightenment. Built in the 3rd century B.C. by Emperor Asoka, it is made of red sand stone. Venerable Ashwaghosa in his Buddhacarita reveals that this is the Navel of the Earth. Fa-Hien mentions that all the past Buddhas attained Enlightenment here and the future Buddhas too will attain the enlightenment on this spot.
Situated on the north east of the Mahabodhi Temple, this is the place where the Buddha spent the second week in meditation in standing posture gazing at the Bodhi Tree with motionless eyes for one whole week.
This is the place where the Buddha spent the third week in meditation practicing the walking meditation, otherwise, called the Cankamana or the cloister walk. The raised platform with lotus flowers mark the spot where the Buddha kept his feet while walking.
The Ratanaghara or the Jewel House is the place where the Buddha spent the fourth week in meditation. Situated in the north-west of the Temple, the Buddha meditated here reflecting on the Patthana or the Law of Dependent Origination. A ray of six colours was said to have emanated from his body during that period and the Buddhists have designed their flag based on these colours.
The pillar marks the spot where the tree once stood marking the place where the Buddha spent the fifth week in meditation after his attainment of Enlightenment and delivered a discourse on the equality of mankind.
The place where the Buddha spent the sixth week in meditation after his Enlightenment. While the Buddha was in meditation, a severe thunder storm broke out and seeing the Buddha getting drenched, the snake king of the Lake called Muchalinda came out of his abode and protected the Buddha with his hood from the violent wind and rains.
Situated in the south of the Temple, this is the tree under which the Buddha spent a week in meditation. It is said that two merchants from Burma (presently Myanmar) named Tapassu and Bhallika while passing this way offered rice cake and honey to the Buddha and took refuge in the Buddha and His teachings ‘Buddham Saranam Gachami, Dhammam Saranam Gachami’ but they could not take refuge in the Sangham because the Sangha was not constituted then, thus they became the first lay devotees in the Buddhist world.
The park situated at the south-east of the temple is newly developed as a Meditation park. It has facilities for meditation huts, congregation and discussion courts and two huge prayer bells and two water fountains besides a lotus pond.
Meditation facilities :
Day Meditation : The meditators who like to meditate in the Meditation park (6 am-6 pm) can enter the park with donation of Rs. 50/- per person against office receipt.
Night Meditation : BTMC office provides special permission for serious meditators who like to meditate inside the Temple premises / under the holy Bodhi tree for the night (9 pm - 4 am). They should contact the Chief Monk office with photocopy of their passpoart and visa (foreigners) / Identity card (Indian) with donation of Rs. 100/- per person.
OTHER SITES FOR VISIT
The BTMC has special arrangement of seven glass houses for oil lamps offering and a brass joss stick pot for incense at the south side of the Temple to protect the Mahabodhi Mahavihara and the sacred Bodhi Tree against pollution.
Mahabodhi Book Shop :
There is a Book shop at the entrance gate of Mahabodhi Mahavihara. Books on religion, Buddhist literature, art and culture, society, etc. are available in English, Hindi, and regional languages.
The BTMC has a library within the campus of BTMC office. The library contains a large number of books on Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Jainism etc. There are also many other books on different topics apart from religion in various languages in this library.