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 "About 250 years after the
Enlightenment, Buddhist Emperor Ashoka visited Bodh Gaya with the
intention of establishing a monastery, shrine, and erecting the
diamond throne (called the Vajrasana), the Seat of
Enlightenment. He is considered the founder of the Mahabodhi Temple.
During the 12th century AD, Bodh Gaya and the
nearby regions were invaded by Muslim armies. Afterward, the Mahabodhi
Temple fell into disrepair and was largely abandoned. During the 16th
century, a Hindu monastery was established near Bodh Gaya. Over the
following centuries, the monastery's abbot or mahant became the area's
primary landholder and claimed ownership of the Mahabodhi Temple
grounds.
In the 1880's, the new British government
began to restore Mahabodhi Bodhi under the direction of Alexander
Cunningham. A short time later, in 1891, the Sri Lankan Buddhist
leader Anagarika Dharmapala started a campaign to return control of
the temple to Buddhists, over the objections of the mahant. The
campaign was partially successful in 1949, when a new Temple law was
passed and the daily management passed to a
temple committee with 4 Hindu and 4 Buddhist members and a Hindu
chairman.
From 2002 the
Mahabodhi Temple has been an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Details of carvings on the Stupa near the Bodhi tree
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Watercolour, 19th century
By Thomas Daniel
Painting of the Temple in 1830 by Charles
D'Oyly
Engraving, 19th century
By William Daniel
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