It is the Maha Bodhi Society, having its founder Anagarika Dharmapala at its forefront, that resuscitated the Buddha Gaya temple and made it once more a hallowed place of pilgrimage for all the Buddhists of the world. This an open declaration that comes and goes unchallenged throughout the history. For the Maha Bodhi Society and Anagarika Dharmapala it was more than a hectic struggle and a challenge. It was fought with confidence and courage. A wider and forceful effort was made to rescue Buddha Gaya and hand over it back to the Buddhists.
It was in January 1891 that Anagarika Dharmapala paid his first visit to Buddha Gaya, He expressed his first impression in these words: –
“Glorious moonlight last night, it being full moon day, and the scene was some- thing magnificent. The imposing structure of the Maha Bodhi temple standing in bold relief in the heavens.”
He then went towards the holy Vajrasana of the Buddha and on seeing the sacred spot where the Siddharta attained Enlightenment he wrote-
“…the imperishable association of the place influenced me so much that a strange impelling force came over me and made me stay there and do all that was in my power for the restoration of the place to its legitimate custodians, the members of the Sangha.”
Anagarika Dharmapala then known as Dharmapala Hewavitharana was in his twenty- ninth year when he visited Buddha Gaya. He saw that the most sacred spot in the Buddhist world was being shamefully neglected, its sculp- tures carted away, image desecrated and he assumed that as a Buddhist he had not only the duty but also the right to stay there and protect the Holy place.
Bhikshu Sangharakshita in his “Biographical sketch of Anagarika Dharmapala” wrote ‘At Buddha Gaya ….. he received the inspiration which was to change not only his own life but the whole course of modern Buddhist history. The crucial moment of his career had come. At last, he stood face to face with his destiny. The happenings of that most decisive day in his whole life, when for a moment the fate of Buddhism in modern India, with all the incalculable consequences thereof, hung trembling in the balance, is best described in the words of his own diary.
“Jan. 22. After taking breakfast we went in the company of Durga Babu and Dr. Chatterjee to Bodh Gaya the most sacred of all sacred spots to the Buddhists. After driving 6 miles (from Gaya) we arrived at the holy spot. Within a mile you could see lying scattered here and there broken statues etc. of our blessed Lord. At the entrance to the Mahant’s temple on both sides of the portico there are statues of our Lord in the attitude of meditation and expounding the Law. How elevating! The sacred Vihara – the Lord sitting on his throne and the great solemnity which pervades all round makes the heart of the pious devotee weep. How delightful! As soon as I touched with my forehead the Vajrasana a sudden impulse came to my It prompted me to stop here and take care of this sacred spot- mind. -so sacred that nothing in the world is equal to this place where Prince Sakya Sinha gained Enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree… When the sudden impulse came to me I asked the Kozen priest whether he would join me, and he joyously assented and more than this he had been thinking the same thing. We both solemnly promised that we would stop here until some Buddhist priests came to take charge of the place.” Hewavitharana Dharmapala went into action.
He settled down here at the Burmese Rest House and wrote thousands of letters to scores of people in Ceylon, Burma, India, Siam and Japan describing the appalling condition of this sacred spot. He wrote articles in Sinhalese and English pleading for the revival of Buddhism and the re-establishment of the Sangha at the Buddha Gaya temple.
It was on May 31, 1891 that the Buddha Gaya Maha Bodhi Society was established in Colombo, Ceylon. The Buddha Gaya Bodhi Centre was in operation since that time. Two notable happenings at the very beginning of the Buddha Gaya rescue movement were the sending of four Bhikkhus from Ceylon here on Buddhist missionary work and the International Buddhist Conference held in October, 1891.
Another important incident was the removal of the Japanese Buddha Gaya temple by the agents of the Mahant. A case was filed against the culprits and the Magistrate of Gaya found the miscreants guilty and sentenced them to one month’s simple imprisonment and a fine of one hundred rupees apiece.
The magistrate in his judgement said that the temple had been continuously used by the Buddhists as a place of worship and that there was nothing to show that the Mahant was ever the proprietor of the temple. This judgement was upheld by the District Court but later it was set aside by the High Court and the Buddha image was removed to the Burmese Rest House.
In 1906 the Mahant filed a suit against Sumangala Thero and Dharmapala for a declaration that he was the sole owner of the Burmese Rest House and for the ejectment of = the defendants and the removal of the image. The Government of India was also made a E party to suit in as much as it had refused to order the removal of the image in 1896. The upper and lower court decided the case in favour of the Mahant and two decades of struggle to regain the lost rights of the Buddhists thus ended in total failure.
The so-called custodians of Buddha Gaya continued to desecrate the image of the Buddha by dressing it up in a red cloth or other fantastic garments, and daubing its brow with lime or clay, which naturally hurt the sentiments of the Buddhists.
The Buddha Gaya Temple question came up before the Bihar Provincial Congress Committee held on December 16, 1922. The Maha Bodhi Society was represented by Ven. K. Siriniwasa Thera. The Bihar Hindu Sabha passed a resolution appointing a committee to go into the temple question in which Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Anagarika Dharmapala and others were included to make recommendations.
In 1923 Dr. Cassius Perera from Ceylon made representations at the Indian National Congress on the temple issue and in 1924 the conference of the Burmese Buddhist Association formed a Buddha Gaya Committee to secure restoration to the Buddhists of the control of the Buddha Gaya temple and its Sacred lands.
The Hon. Chiefs Association of Ceylon submitted a memorandum to Lord Reading on the Temple question. Several prominent Indians and Europeans expressed their views on the Buddha Gaya issue.
In ‘Young India’ Mahatma Gandhi wrote: The reader will remember that a movement has been in progress for some years for the restoration to Buddhists of the great and historic temple at Buddha Gaya. But it seems to have made no tangible headway. At the Cocanada Congress Babu Rajendra Prasad was appointed to inquire into the matter and report. He had not been able to do so up to the time of the meeting. A Buddhist deputation came from Ceylon to Belgium during the Congress week to plead the Buddhistic cause personally before the Congress…”.
“…The only thing, therefore, the committee was able to do was to ask Rajendra Babu to hasten and let the Working Committee have his report on or before the end of the present month.
“There is no doubt that the possession of the Temple should vest in the Buddhists. There may be legal difficulties. They must be overcome. If the report is true that animal sacrifice is offered in the temple, it is a sacrilege. It is equally a sacrilege if the worship is offered, as it is alleged, in a way calculated to wound the susceptibilities of Buddhists. We should take pride in helping the restoration of the temple to its rightful trustees. I hope Rajendra Babu will secure all the literature on the subject and produce a report which can serve as a guide for all who wish to advance the cause of the Buddhist claimants”,
DR. RABINDRANATH TAGORE:
I am sure it will be admitted by all Hindus who are true to their own ideals, that it is an intolerable wrong to allow the temple raised on the spot where Lord Buddha attained his enlightenment, to remain under the control of a rival sect which can neither have an intimate know- ledge of nor sympathy for the Buddhist religion and its rites of worship. I consider it to be a sacred duty for all individuals believing in freedom and justice to help restore this historical site to the community of people who still reverentially carry on that particular current of history in their own living faith…”
PROFESSOR SYLVANI LEVI:
“But I am bound to say that the whole Buddhist Church has a common duty to fulfil there; the spirit of Buddhism should by any means be kept alive in the place where it reached, in Buddha’s mind, its first and most complete achievement…”.
MR. D.N SEN, M.A.,I.E.S., PRINCIPAL BIHAR NATIONAL COLLEGE, PATNA:
“I have visited some of the most famous temples in and around Colombo and found with what toleration and respect they treat Hindu images and relics which exist in the temple compounds or even in the Sanctuaries themselves. I feel sure such behaviour will appeal to Hindus and induce them to allow the Buddhists to have the care and custody of the most holy shrine.”
SIR EDWIN ARNOLD:
“I have since appealed to the Government of India and to all enlightened Hindu gentlemen, by a public letter, against such sad neglect of the noblest locality in all their Indian Philosophic annals; and I cherish the hope of seeing the temple and its precincts-which are all Government property – placed under the guardianship of Buddhists. But whether the temple and its relics be preserved with proper reverence or not, neither bigotry, Brahminism, nor time can ever destroy the inherent sanctity of the scene, or diminish the spell which broods the memorable landscape… What site even in India can be compared for imperishable associations with this of the little Fig Tree at Buddha Gaya…”.
SRI P. C. RAY (D.Sc.):
“I agree in the main with the opinion given by Dr. Rabindra Nath Tagore. I think, however, desirable that the Managing Committee of the Temple should include Hindu representatives.”
DR. ANNIE BESANT :
Dr. Annie Besant has always considered that the temple of Buddha Gaya should be vested in Buddhist Trustees. It should not be im- possible for some friendly arrangement to be made with the Hindu Mahant that should restore the temple to Trustees of the Faith founded by him who reached illumination at this spot.
VIEWS OF DESHBANDHU C.R. DAS:
When asked by a newspaper representative, Deshbandhu Chittarajan Das, the great leader of the Swaraj Party said :-
“In my opinion the Buddha Gaya temple belongs to the Buddhists. My heartfelt wish is that the Hindus should either give over the temple to the Buddhists or should not obstruct worship etc. in their own way.”
MR. ISWAR SARAN:
“I entirely agree with Dr. Rabindra Nath Tagore. I am not in a position to express any opinion as regards the legal rights of the parties but on broad principles of freedom and justice. there is irresistible force in the contention of Dr. Tagore and Prof. Sylvani Levi.”
MR. C.S SUBRAMANIAM AIYER:
“I entirely sympathise with you and shall be glad to support any endeavour made in the director of getting the temple under the control of the followers of Lord Sri Buddha.”
PRINCIPAL HERAMBA CHANDRA MITRA, M.A:
“I am not qualified to pronounce any opinion on the legal rights of the present occupant of the Buddha Gaya temple at Gaya, but. apart from legal technicalities I am entirely in favour of the temple being under the control of the followers of Buddha and of it being used as a centre of Buddhistic activity and influence.”
MR. G.C. NAG. M.A., B.L., RAI BAHADUR:
“I fully endorse the views of Dr. Tagore that the site where Buddha attained his Nirvana should be restored to the care of the community who believe in the sublime faith of Lord Buddha, and that the government should be moved to acquire the historical site so full of sacred and sweet associations, and entrust it to their care.”
PANDIT VIDHUSEKHARA BHATTACHARYYA, PRINCIPAL, VIDYABHAVANA, VISVABHARATI UNIVERSITY, BOLPUR.
“Let us, the Hindus, dispassionately con- sider the question of the Buddha-Gaya temple in the heart of our hearts and the truth will be revealed that it is the Buddhists who are more deserving than ourselves to take possession of the shrine.”
MADAME ALEXANDER DAVID NEEL:
The French lady Orientalist and Explorer who recently crossed Tibet from China to India writes:- “Material obstacles, vulgar questions of land property stand in the way of the realisation of such schemes but there is no obstacle that energy and perseverance cannot conquer. Let the Buddhists unite and convince those who can efficaciously support them that they mean to make of Buddha Gaya a highly intellectual memorial worthy of their Master, and let all those who hold the name of Buddha in reverence, or have at heart the desire to uphold the philosophical genius of India or pay attributes of respect to his doctrine to help the Buddhists achieve their object.”
The question was also raised during the 37th Session of the Indian National Congress held at Gaya in December 1922.
The Maha Bodhi Society sent a delegation consisting of Swami Sachidananda, Sri Dharmacharya, Rev. K. Sirinivasa, and D. Valisingha. With the help of Swami Satyadeva and Baba Ramodar Das, many meetings were held and in the end the decision in the matter was finally left to the all-India Congress Committee.
The Rajendra Prasad Committee made the following recommendations: –
(a) Both Hindus and Buddhists should be assured fullest liberty of worship
(b) according to their own methods; A Committee of five Buddhists and five Hindus should be formed and the management and control of the temple and of the worship in it should be entrusted to the committee.
The All-India Congress Committee accepted the recommendations with the modification that of the five Hindus, one should be the Mahant and another a Hindu Minister of the Government of Bihar During Anagarika Dharmapala’s absence in Europe the agitation was continued with unabated vigour by Sri D. Valisingha, who succeeded in having the matter brought up before a meeting of the Hindu Maha Sabha which was held at Cawnpore under the presidency of Ven. U. Ottama.
Again, a committee of inquiry was ap pointed, this time with Bhai Paramananda as Chairman, and Sri Valisingha and others as members.
