Mahabodhi Temple Complex
The Mahabodhi Temple Complex is one of the four holy sites related to the life of the Lord Buddha, and particularly to the attainment of Enlightenment. The first temple was built by Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century B.C., and the present temple dates from the 5th or 6th centuries. It is one of the earliest Buddhist temples built entirely in brick, still standing in India, from the late Gupta period.
The temple's principle relic is a distant descendant of the Bo tree under which the Buddha sat when his enlightenment took place. The temple is one of the few early monumental brick structures to have survived in eastern India. Its enormous central tower (55 m tall) is a 19th century renovation faithful to the earlier towers that existed on the site. The tower comprises numermous horizontal bands of mouldings and arch motifs that extend upward to an amalaka topped by umbrella-shaped forms, recalling the umbrella motifs found at Buddhist stupas dating back to the time of Asoka and earlier. Around the central tower are four smaller towers added at the end of 19th century that mimic the form of the central tower.
West of the main temple is a smaller area housing the Bodhi tree relic. Here, on what may have been the first sanctuary on the site, can be found a stone seat from the 3rd century BC. Scattered around the site are plaster copies of stone posts dating from the Shunga period. The originals are stored in the nearby archaelogical museum and may have been used in the earliest stages of the temple to protect the Bodhi tree.
The Mahabodi temple is a site sacred to all Buddhists, particularly those of the Theravada branch mainly found in south and southeast Asia. In these areas, the form of the temple has been much copied in such places as Nepal, Thailand, and Burma, which each have their own representations of the Mahabodhi.
The site of the Mahabodhi Temple provides exceptional records for the events associated with the life of Buddha and subsequent worship, particularly since Emperor Asoka built the first temple, the balustrades, and the memorial column. |
