In the annals of history, rarely has the divine descended on the human plane.
The terra firma that the august divinity sanctifies by His hallowed presence, transmogrifies into a place of pilgrimage, which centuries of devotion deifies into a place of worship, where people across the world come and pay obeisance.
After several tortuous years, Lord Buddha's spiritual quest found fruition in Bodh gaya. Beneath the boughs of what is now known as the Bodhi Tree, He attained Enlightenment. Through centuries kings, sages and the commoners tried to build a place of homage, pilgrimage and prayer at the seat of Enlightenment of Buddha under the Bodhi Tree; First, symbolically through various icons, which, as time passed, culminated into shrines, chaityas, images and monuments, an ensemble now known as Mahabodhi (Mahavihara) Temple.
Through this book of the pictorial documentation of the monuments of Mahabodhi (Mahavihara) Temple, an endeavor has been made by BTMC to take this marvelous spectacle of artistic and spiritual splendor to a wider audience.
I sincerely hope that our efforts would be appreciated and this pictorial documentation will become an historical record and sensitize people through the ages to the greatness of Indian art.
Mahabodhi [Mahavihara] Temple, where Buddha attained enlightenment (Pali; Bodhi) under the Bodhi Tree, is considered to be the holiest site in Buddhism, which was declared as a World Heritage Property by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in the year 2002.
In Mauryan period the place was known as 'Sambodhi' or complete enlightenment. Emperor Asoka's Rock Edict number 8 describes those ten years after ascending the throne, Emperor Asoka visited "Sambodhi".
It is believed that he built the 'Vajrasana' or The Diamond Throne' to mark the exact place of the enlightenment of Sakyamuni Buddha under the Bodhi Tree and erected stone railing and a temple around it. While the Vajrasana built by Asoka still remains, the shrine or Temple built by Asoka have disappeared. A sculpture on the southern gateway of Sanchi's Stupa number 1 dating around C. 250 BCE and on a relief carving from the stupa railing at Bharhut, from the early Sunga period (C. 185-73 BCE) gives a glimpse of the Shrine built by Asoka. In both the reliefs the prosperous Bodhi Tree and Vajrasana is shown inside this Temple structure.
Early depiction of Mahabodhi shrine built around Bodhi Tree, carving found on Sanchi Stupa gate.
The Bharhut relief on the Stupa railing has an inscription between the sculpted image of the Mahabodhi Chaitya arches, which reads: "Bhagavato Sakamunino Bodho" i.e. "The building round the Bodhi Tree of the Bhagavat (Holy) Sakamuni (Sakyamuni)." In this Bharhut relief an elephant crowned pillar of Asoka (now lost) is shown standing next to the Mahabodhi Chaitya.
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