Buddha Gaya, in the North Indian State of Bihar, is now solely identified with Buddhism being the place where the Buddha attained Enlightenment under a Bodhi tree. Similarly, “Gaya” a town 15 km away, is a preferred spot for performing Hindu purification rites, along with Kashi or Varanasi.
But in ancient times, the site now known to the world as Buddha Gaya, was part of a larger holy area for Hindus, both Saivites and Vaishnavites, says cultural historian Shashank Shekhar Sinha, author of Casting the Buddha (MacMillan, New Delhi 2025).
Hindus from across India went to Gaya to perform purification baths and other funeral rites called Shraddha. Gaya was considered the abode of deities and the dear departed. Gaya and Buddha Gaya were the haunt of ascetics and holy men. The Bodhi tree of Uruvela, associated with Buddha’s Enlightenment, was part of the Hindu Brahminical Shraddha circuit much like Kasi, (later Benaras/Varanasi), Sinha says.
The Mahabodhi taru (The Great Bodhi tree) was prescribed for Shraddha rites in Hindu sacred texts of the 8 th and the 9th.century CE such as the Gaya Mahartmaya. Thirtha Chintamani of the 13 th.Century, also mentions the sacred Bodhi tree as a place for Sharaddha, Sinha said.
The Bodhi tree at Mahabodhi temple
Gaya had both Saivite and Vaishnavite connections, Sinha adds. This could be seen in a 5 th.,Century CE figure in the Mahabodhi temple carrying the “trident” which is a symbol of Lord Siva. One could see icons of Uma-Maheshwara (Parvathi and Siva in combination) and the four-faced Siva Linga from the temple that are now kept in the Indian museum in Kolkata.
There are 8 th.Century CE Hindu icons in the Mahabodhi temple. It is noteworthy that by the 6 th., and the 7 th, Centuries, the Buddha had come to be worshiped by the Hindus as the 9 th., incarnation of Vishnu. The banyan tree Akshyavata at Gaya has a close connection with Vaishnavite purification rites.
Archaeological excavations in the Taradih mound 20 kms form the Mahabodhi temple revealed the existence of ritual fire pits indicating their use by Hindu ascetics. Icons of Yakshas and Yakshis associated with Buddhist sacred sites had also been found. Even the railing around the Mahabodhi tree has depictions of spirits, Yakshas, Yakshis, Vedic Gods and Nagas.
“The shaping of Buddha Gaya, therefore, took place in a larger socio-religious context, going beyond the Buddhist faith,” Sinha points out.
Mahabodhi temple complex
The grand Mahabodhi temple had been through renovations from before the Christian era to the 19 th.Century CE. The present Mahabodhi tree is believed to be the fifth incarnation of the tree under which the Buddha attained Enlightenment around 500 BCE.
The Vajrasana (the Diamond Throne), marking the spot where the Buddha sat in meditation was built in the 3 rd.Century BCE. Additions were made later. A stone railing around the Bodhi tree and the Mahabodhi temple were built in the 5 th., and 6 th., Centuries CE. Over subsequent centuries, the temple was renovated several times, the last having taken place in the 19 th., Century.
Although there were structures in the Buddha Gaya area before the time of Emperor Asoka of Magadha (268 to 232 BCE), it was he who had built the first structures now considered part of the Mahabodhi temple complex. Asoka built the Vajrasana or the Diamond Seat, on the spot where the Buddha sat under the Mahabodhi tree. It is in polished red sandstone. The Vajrasana was renovated in the 2 nd., and 6 th. Centuries. It is now set in an enclosure.
The next major change in the Mahabodhi temple complex was the stone railing around the temple and around the Bodhi tree. Archaeological evidence suggests that the original railing was constructed in the Ist.Cenury BCE when the Sunga dynasty ruled Magadha (from 187 BCE to 75 BCE), and expanded in the 5 th.and 6th.Century CE when the Guptas ruled the area, from the mid-3rd to mid-6th Centuries CE.
While the earlier railing was made of sandstone, renovations and later constructions and depictions used granite. Yakshas and Yakshis as well as Vedic Gods like Indra and Surya were carved. All these were respected in the Buddhist tradition also. Later, in the 19th Century, when the entire Mahabodhi temple was rebuilt, the original railing was shifted to the site museum and a replica was put in its place.
During the Gupta period (mid-3rd Century to mid-6th century CE) the object of worship shifted from the Bodhi tree to the Vajrasana (seat). This was because the Bodhi tree was destroyed or desecrated several times due to political changes.
According to the Chinese traveller-pilgrim Xuanzang, Emperor Asoka himself destroyed the Bodhi tree in the period before he converted to Buddhism, which took place in 261 BCE. His queen also destroyed it at some point. But seeing the tree’s extraordinary powers, Asoka tended it, bathing its roots in milk. The tree was again destroyed by the Hindu king Shashanka (600 CE and 625 CE) of the Gauda dynasty of Bengal. He was a fanatic.
Around 412 CE, during the reign of King Mahanama of Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, the renowned Chinese traveller-bhikkhu, Faxian visited the island. But the most significant historical event during King Mahanama‘s reign was the translation of Buddhist commentaries (Atthakatha) from Sinhalese into Pali by Buddhaghosa Thero, who came Buddha Gaya to do that. Though an exceptionally talented Brahmin who converted to Buddhism and became a bhikkhu, Buddhaghosha had to demonstrate to King Mahanama his scholarship before he was allowed to write commentaries. By the 6th,Century CE, Sinhalese monks from Sri Lanka had established a colony in Buddha Gaya, Sinha says.
Earliest statues
The earliest statues of the Buddha found in Buddha Gaya were from the 4 th. to the 5 th.Centuries. These include the red standstone images of the Buddha in the seated form, which are now kept in the National Museum in Kolkata. However, there was a profusion of Buddha images when the Pala dynasty ruled Bengal and Bihar from the 8th to 12th centuries CE. The Palas were known for their patronage of Buddhism, art, architecture, and education, particularly through the establishment of Buddhist universities like Nalanda and Vikramashila.
Most of the Pala-era images of the Buddha and Buddhist icons are made of blackstone quarried in Munger district of Bihar. Most of the Buddha images are in the Bhumisparsha mudra. The Bhumisparsha mudra, meaning “earth-touching” or “earth witness,” is a symbolic gesture in Buddhist art and practice, representing the Buddha’s Enlightenment and his invocation of the earth goddess to witness his attainment.
Although there is no evidence of the Palas supporting Buddha Gaya as such, the prevalence of political peace and religious tolerance under them, helped the growth of art and institutions in the Buddhist world including Buddha Gaya.
The 12 th., and 13 th., saw the decline of Buddha Gaya. This is popularly attributed to the iconoclasm and depredations of Bhatiyar Khilji, the Afghan commander of Turkish Sultans of Delhi, Muhammad Ghori and Qutbuddin Aibek. Khilji is supposed to have destroyed Nalanda University. But Sinha says that there is no concrete evidence of this.
However, he adds that the Afghan invasions had weakened the Palas. They could no longer patronise Buddhist institutions. Trade and commerce weakened to the extent that Buddhist institutions suffered. When the Tibetan bhikkhu Dhamaswamin visited the Mahabodhi temple in 1234, he found it dilapidated with only four resident bhikkhus, as opposed to 1000 which Xuanzang counted in the 7 th., Century.
Dharmaswamin noted that the resident monks had drawn a picture of Lord Siva at the entrance of the temple for the protection of the temple. He said that many monks had fled to Nepal and Tibet fearing the Thurushka (Turkish) soldiers. Some converted to Islam.
From the16 th. Century to the 19th century, the Mahabodhi Temple came under the control of Saivite caretakers called Mahant, who were running it as a Saivite shrine. In the 19 th.Century, it went through extensive restoration, first by Burmese Buddhists and then by the British archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham and Joseph David Beglar.
After decades of struggle against Saivite control, the Mahabodhi temple was recovered for the world Buddhist community by Sri Lanka’s Anagarika Dharmapala with the help of Buddhist scholar Sir Edwin Arnold, author of The Light of Asia (1879)
