A recent geospatial analysis has found evidence of the presence of “huge architectural wealth” buried in the Mahabodhi temple complex and its surroundings in Bihar’s Bodh Gaya.
Key points
- The study has been carried out by the Bihar Heritage Development Society (BHDS), a wing of the Art, Culture and Youth Department, in collaboration with the Cardiff University of the United Kingdom.
- The U.K.-based University and the BHDS are cooperating in the project, ‘Archaeology on the footsteps of the Chinese traveller Xuanzang’.
- The Mahabodhi temple is west of the Phalgu river, and the Sujata Stupa and several other archaeological remains are located east of the river.
- The monuments and other archaeological remains in the east of the river are now regarded to be independent of the Mahabodhi temple. But the latest finding shows that both the temple and the Sujata stupa along with other archaeological remains stood on the same river bank in the past.
Mahabodhi temple complex
- The Mahabodhi temple complex is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is one of the four holy areas related to the life of Lord Gautam Buddha.
- Bodh Gaya is a place where Lord Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment.
- The present Mahabodhi temple complex at Bodh Gaya comprises the 50-metre-high grand temple, the Vajrasana, the sacred Bodhi tree and other six sacred sites of Buddha’s enlightenment, surrounded by numerous ancient stupas, well maintained and protected by inner, middle and outer circular boundaries.
- 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.
Xuanzang
- Hiuen Tsang, also known as Xuanzang, was a Chinese Buddhist, monk scholar, traveller and translator.
- He travelled from China to India to obtain Buddhist scriptures during the reign of King Harsha Vardhan.
- He is best known for his journey to India from 629 to 645 CE and his efforts to bring over 657 Indian texts into China.
- His writings had a significant impact on the development of Buddhism in China.
