Introduction to Archaeology in Buddhism

Course instructor- Dr. Garima Kaushik

Mid-term assignment

Bodh Gaya- a centre of Buddhist pilgrimage

By-
Shatarupa Dutta
School of Historical Studies (2016-18)
Nalanda University.

Introduction

Buddha was the first teacher in the world who made morality the essence and foundation of
religion. -Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

This assignment will focus on the archaeological dimensions and evolution of the site of
Bodh Gaya, a small town in the Gaya district of Bihar in India. Bodh Gaya is associated with
the enlightenment of Lord Buddha (566-486 BC) the sacred “Bodhi tree” (Banyan tree) under
which he is believed to have reached enlightenment hence, the place is highly respected by
the Buddhists monks as well as the laypeople. Being one of the most important of the main
four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar,
Lumbini, and Sarnath the Mahabodhi temple complex, inside which the “Bodhi tree” exists,
became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002. This assignment will also deal with several
issues of conservation, syncretism and the history of contestation.

History

Situated on the banks of Nilanjana or popularly known Phalgu River, Bodh Gaya was earlier
known as Uruvela. The history of Bodh Gaya goes back into the mists of antiquity. Continues
archaeological excavations have revealed that the earliest traces of human habitation in Bodh
Gaya stretches back to at least as early as 1100 BC. Beginning with a brief outline of the
events from the chalcolithic era up to the modern times, the landscape of Bodh Gaya will be
studied throughout the assignment which had gone through several changes in many aspects.

Chalcolithic era (1100-600 BC)

During this period there were agricultural settlements as well as there were hunting and
fishing activities also. The type of black and red ware found with the residues of rice husks in
them indicates the cultivation of rice along with other cereals in this area. No traces of the use
of iron have been found.1

Iron age (600-200 BC)

This period marks the beginning of usage of iron and also making new type of pottery-
1
Ansari, A.Q, Archaeological Remains of Bodh Gaya
northern black pottery ware (NBPW). We also see the introduction of coinage in this era.
Also this was the period when we see the presence of Sakyamuni Gautama Buddha and the
event of his enlightenment. From various sources like Buddhist and Brahmanical literary
sources, it is evident that Bodh Gaya was already a place of pilgrimage. Till the 3rd century
BC, no evidence of monumental structure has been found from Bodh Gaya.2 Though, in
around 260 BC, Emperor Asoka visited Bodh Gaya and constructed a small shrine near the
Bodhi tree under which Buddha believed to attain enlightenment.

Mauryan Period (200 BC -100 AD)

By this time Bodh Gaya became a very popular site of pilgrimage among the Buddhist monks
and laypeople also. A monumental column, most likely some railings were constructed
around the shrine by Asoka surrounding.

Kushana Period (100 - 400 AD)

An inscription datable to 1st – 2nd century AD mentions that the shrine built by Asoka was
converted into a temple. A temple, which later on came to be knon as the “Mahabodhi
temple” was built adjacent to the Bodhi tree, most likely during this period only under the
reign of Kushana emperor Huviska. The depiction of the temple was found in panel from
Kumrahar (Patna) which suggested the date of the temple back to kushana period3.

Gupta Period (400 - 800 AD)

The remodelling of the Mahabodhi temple took place during this time span under the reign of
the Guptas. Though there is no such evidence that the remodelling was done under any
patronage of the dynasty the only record that mentions their participation in the renovation
work is found from a Buddhist monastery near Nalanda4.

Pala Period (800-1200 AD)

The rise of the Pala dynasty stabilised the region. Since, they themselves were Buddhist; they
sponsored two monasteries at Vikramshila and Paharpur but no record of their patronage has
been found for Bodh Gaya, though a number of Hindu sculptures can be seen in the present
temple and also in the site museum that belong to this period.

The Medieval Period (1200-1800 AD)

In the late 1100 AD the Bodh Gaya area fell under the Delhi Sultanate and state patronage
for the temple and monasteries stopped. The lands of the monasteries and temples were taken
over by the new rulers and it seems that gradually the temples and monasteries of Bodh Gaya
started decaying. During this period rootless Buddhist monks and Shaivite Nath Siddha
ascetics continued their practices in Bodh Gaya and the Shaivite ascetics established a
permanent monastery, or Math, in Bodh Gaya. This Math gradually became the major
landowner in the area and the Abbott, or Mahant, the local ruler.

Colonial Period (1800-1947 CE)

Early colonial records of Bodh Gaya portray it as a rural village where the principal landlords

2
Asher, M., Frederick, Monumental Legacy, Bodh Gaya, 3
3
Asher, M., Frederick, Monumental Legacy, Bodh Gaya , 8
4
Asher, M., Frederick, Monumental Legacy, Bodh Gaya, 8
were the Abbotts of the monasteries and the temple was in a state of disrepair and falling
down. The British were impelled to take action over the temple in the 1880s when a Burmese
mission began to repair the temple was in action at the same time as the British annexed
Burma. In 1861 the temple was excavated and restored under the supervision of Sir
Alexander Cunningham.

Modern Era (1947- )

On independence, the management of the temple became a controversial issue. Eventually,
the temple was taken out of the hands of the Hindu Abbotts and put into the hands of a
management committee. The “Temple Management Committee” was made up of Buddhists
and Hindus, but with a statuary majority of Hindus.
In the 1990s campaigning by the followers of Ambedkar, Indians who became Buddhists
after 1956, led to the handing over of the management of the temple to Buddhists.5

Mahabodhi Temple Complex

The history of the Mahabodhi temple has been studied in various phases because of the
changes it has been through. A very clear picture of syncretism and entitlements is seen in the
complex of the temple through the implementations by different patrons of Buddhist
authorities and Hindu dynasties and later on the oriental British activists.
Exactly when the Mahabodhi Temple was built is something of a mystery. Guesses have have
been made which range from the 2nd to the 10th century AD. The temple itself is little help
in determining its age as no inscriptions concerning its construction have been found and few
temples from prior to the 6th century AD, which could be used for comparative dating, have
survived. In any case, any evidence as to the temple's age that might have been derived from
its style has been rendered unreliable by both ancient and modern renovations.
Literary records are equally unsatisfactory. The only certainty is that the temple already
existed substantially the same as it is today when Xuanzang visited Bodh Gaya in about 637
AD. Xuanzang talks about the huge structure mentioning its dimensions also around the
Bodhi tree which could be the present structure of the temple and also talks about vandalism
of the Bodhi tree. Two hundred years earlier Fa Hien reported seeing a stupa (Chinese, ta)
and images of Buddha marking the place where the Buddha was enlightened. But since, these
were the descriptions given by the pilgrims and travellers; we cannot rely on them totally as
they could have been written only based on the memories long after the journey was made.

Another possible piece of evidence is the so-called Bodh Gaya Plaque. This small clay disk
found at Kumrahar which is now in the Patna Museum depicts a square inwardly sloping
tower with a chattravali-like pinnacle on its top and an arched chamber at its base. Within the
chamber is a seated figure that seems to have its right hand in the abhayamudra. The tower is
surrounded by a railing beyond which is a collection of smaller structures. At the gate of the
railing is a pillar with an elephant capital. Towards the bottom of the plaque is a barely
evident inscription in Kharosthi script (see image-1).

5
http://www.bodhgayanews.net/
Photo courtesy- Google image.

Historians have argued that the plaque depicts the Mahabodhi Temple while others that it
does not. The main arguments against such an identification are that Kharosthi was not used
in northern India after the 3rd century AD (meaning that the plaque must predate this period),
and structures like the Mahabodhi Temple had not evolved at that time; moreover, if the
plaque does depict the Mahabodhi Temple one would expect the Bodhi Tree to be shown,
which it is not, and also the statue within it to be in the bhumisparshamudra rather than the
abhayamudra.6

The pillars and railings within the temple complex date from various periods which show that
several communities, cults and patrons have contributed their services. A sandstone railing
(dated to the 3rd- 1st century BC) once encircled the spot under the Bodhi Tree. A few
original pillars with sculpted human faces, animals and decorative details carved on them still
stand at the site. Other such sandstone pillars from the site are in the nearby Archaeological
Museum. Later granite pillars were added to enlarge the railing in the 5th-6th centuries AD
and these are also to be found on site.

Restoration and conservation

There is very limited information about the early restoration and repair of the temple that
took place between 7th to 11th centuries AD. The accounts of restoration resume with the
extensive repairs which were made by the Burmese in the 11th century (1035 – 1079). Other
repairs were made in the latter half of the 12th century by Asokabhalla, the king of Shivalik.7
Not much is known of the state of the temple from the 13th century when the Muslim
invasions took place till the 16th century when a Hindu Mahant or priest made the temple his
hermitage. In the next six centuries under the Muslim conquest, the temple became deserted
and gradually began to fall to ruin.
The rulers of the Alompra dynasty in Burma had repairs carried out in 1810 in the main

6
http://www.buddhanet.net
7
Government of India, Ministry of Tourism & Culture. Application for the Inscription of the Mahabodhi
Temple Complex as a World Heritage Site. (2002)
shrine of the temple. The Burmese King Mindon Min continued the remaining interest of his
country in the conservation work of the temple in 1875. Unfortunately, this could not be
completed as the Anglo-Burmese war broke out and the King’s representative had to leave
India.
Soon afterwards, at the directive of the archaeologist-historian Dr. Rajendra Lal Mitra and the
Lt. Governor of Bengal Sir Ashley Eden, Mr J. D. M. Beglar and Sir Alexander Cunningham
were asked to repair the excavated temple. This work of restoration of the temple was
completed in four years between 1880 and 1884 AD at a cost of Rs. 200,000 (approx. US$
4,600)8.

The History of Contestation

A study by Frederick Asher examines the history of Bodh Gaya and the surrounding
monuments and pilgrimage sites and tension between Hindus and Buddhist followers9. Alan
Trevithick in his paper on the Mahabodhi temple pointed out how it had functioned as a
symbol of the triumph of ‘orthodox’ Hinduism over ‘heterodox’ Buddhism10.
This structure is known today as the Mahabodhi temple (a term coined by Cunningham in his
1892 monograph on the site), is been the central attention of modern contestation. It is
unclear however, how the temple came to replace the Bodhi tree as the primary locus of
religious reverence at Bodh Gaya.
Upon the arrival of Europeans, there were few Buddhists left in India and the site was under
protection of the Shaiva mahant of Bodh Gaya. As it is not historically uncommon that sites
with a sacred background are reused by other faiths, the Shaivas probably found the site
abandoned during the late 16th century and there established their residence11. In this way
Buddhist ritual and imagery lived on, for although the Shaiva worshippers replaced some
Buddhist symbols, many others were assimilated rather than destroyed. For instance, Hindus
today pacify their deceased ancestors at the bodhi tree, in addition to adopting and adapting
images of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas12.
Cunningham remarked on this religious syncretism during his 1861 inventory at the site,
declaring that, “no conversion is required, as the people accept one of these votive stupas of
the Buddhists as a ready-made lingam”. While this view regards the Hindu laity as ignorant
and lacking in agency, contemporary scholars refer to this process as the “Hindu mode of
encompassment”—an inclusive approach in which Buddhist pilgrims were always
accommodated as worshippers13.

Archaeological Museum, Bodh Gaya

8
Government of India, Ministry of Tourism & Culture. Application for the Inscription of the Mahabodhi
Temple Complex as a World Heritage Site. (2002)
9
Asher, M., Frederick, Monumental Legacy, Bodh Gaya.
10
Trevithick, “Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya,” 635
11
Asher, M., Frederick, Monumental Legacy, Bodh Gaya.
12

13
Trevithick, “Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya,” 637
With the view to familiarize people with the heritage of the region, a site museum named
Archaeological Museum of Bodh Gaya has been set up by the ASI in 195614. Some rare
Buddha statues can be seen preserved in the museum along with lots of other statues and
artefacts which were found during the excavation. The museum consists of two galleries
where one can witness some of the rare and most precious collection of artefacts here. By far
the most remarkable artefact in the house are the railing pillars, cross bars and coping stones
which were shifted from the Mahabodhi temple premises to the museum. The galleries
exhibit sculptures including standing Yakshi figure having elaborate hairstyle, crowned
Buddha in Bhumisparshamudra, Maiterya, sculptures of Gandhara Buddha in different
attitude, standing image of Manjusri, terracotta plaque depicting Buddha, railing pillar
depicting Surya, panel showing Sahasra Buddha, copper antimony rod, miniature pot, etc.
The sculptures are related with Buddhist as well as Brahmanical faiths including several
panels depicting the dashavatar of lord Vishnu which is originally a part of the Hindu
mythology.

Conclusions

Therefore, in retracing contestation around the sanctity of Bodh Gaya, it is apparent that
images are “inherently multivalent”, taking on “new roles and new meanings in response to
the changing world around them”. Although Mahabodhi temple was built by Buddhist rulers
to commemorate the enlightenment of the Buddha, the site was soon occupied by Saivite
Hindus.
This fact however, was portrayed by colonial scholars as an assault on India’s glorious and
pure Buddhist past, and hence served the colonial project’s legitimizing discourse of the
“civilizing” mission. This resulted in a “museumising process” that removed Bodh Gaya
from the “immediate reality of its people and environment” and later informed transnational
Buddhist campaigns for ownership15. The granting of UNESCO World Heritage status in
2002 was purported to have alleviated many of these tensions, and yet it is evident that the
site is valued for its “moment of origin” in the Buddhist past, and by extension for its
potential to stimulate tourism. In this way, the colonial marginalization of the “degenerate
Hindu” finds its match in the neglected local resident of Gaya District today.

References
14
http://asi.nic.in
15
Guha-Thakurta, “Monuments and Lost Histories,” 157.
1. Ansari, A.Q, Archaeological Remains of Bodh Gaya, Ramanand Vidya Bhawan,
Delhi, 1990.
2. Asher, M., Frederick, Monumental Legacy, Bodh Gaya, Oxford University Press,
2008.
3. Google images.
4. Government of India, Ministry of Tourism & Culture. Application for the Inscription
of the Mahabodhi Temple Complex as a World Heritage Site. 2002.
5. http://asi.nic.in
6. Guha-Thakurta, Tapati, “Monuments and Lost Histories: The Archaeological
Imagination in Colonial India.” Proof and Persuasion: Essays on Authority,
Objectivity and Evidence, edited by Suzanne L. Marchand and Elizabeth Lunbeck.
New York: Brepols Publishers, 1997.
7. Mitra, Debala Buddhist Monuments, Sahitya Samsad. 1980.
8. Trevithick, Alan. “British Archaeologists, Hindu Abbots, and Burmese Buddhists:
The Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, 1811-1877.” Modern Asian Studies, 1999.