Much of the history of Bodhgaya is known from its inscriptions, graffiti and to a lesser extent literary accounts of the many pilgrims who visited throughout the centuries. During the long reign of the Pala Kings of Bengal, the Mahabodhi Temple received lavish patronage, and most of the images and Stupas that can still be seen in and around the temple date from this period. Several inscriptions mention Pala Kings as having made gifts and endowments as did Kings from other parts of India.

The beginning of the thirteenth century saw much of India in chaos due to the invasion by the Turkish Empire. Invading Muslim armies destroyed temples and defaced statues. There is no record of exactly how and when Bodhgaya was destroyed, but there are records that in the onslaught the Turks put to death innumerable monks and destroyed images and shrines.

During the Turkish rule, the Mahabodhi temple fell into ruins due to deliberate destruction and neglect, and the visits of pilgrims became less and less frequent. All accounts of the temple prior to the British restoration in 1880 indicate that it was an uncared for and neglected ruin, with the ground floor and second floor chambers collapsed. An accumulation of rubbish around the temple meant that the level of the ground had reached above the niches on the outer wall.

The Mahabodhi Temple

1. Historical Accounts
2. Maha Bodhi Tree
3. Bodhigaya Temple

The Bodhgaya Stupa, or Mahabodhi Vihara as it is also known, was erected in the place where Buddha Shakyamuni gained enlightenment some two thousand five hundred years ago. Its origins are lost in time, but it is known that King Ashoka erected a shrine to Buddha here in the third century B.C.

In spite of extensive research by scholars, until this day no one has been able to give a definite date as to when this present temple was built, who constructed it or how long it took to be completed. It is generally believed that the Great Stupa must have come into existence between the fifth and seventh centuries A.D.

A relief from an older Stupa railing dated about 100BC gives an indication of what the early temple at Bodhgaya looked like; a two storied structure with a gabled roof built around the Bodhi Tree and supported by pillars. Inside a slab of stone, the Vajrasana (indestructible seat of enlightenment) sat by the decorated trunk of the Bodhi tree, behind which were two Tiratana symbols. This temple was probably called Vajrasana Gandhakuti and may have stood for several centuries, being repaired and added to from time to time.

Today, the temple is a fifty metre tall pyramidal tower, crowned with a bell like Stupa. The base is a fifteen metre square twosome structure supporting four smaller towers identical to their central counterpart. Inside the temple sits a large gilded statue of Shakyamuni Buddha in earth touching mudra. This image is said to be 1700 years old and is facing east exactly at the place where the Buddha, sitting in meditation with his back to the Bodhi tree, was enlightened