The Mahabodhi Temple is located in Bodhgaya, Bihar state in India. Literally it means “Great Awakening Temple”. It constituted one of the four holy sites related to the Lord Buddha’s life and particularly is the holiest pilgrimage site for the Buddhists around the world where Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha attained enlightenment.
The temple, a Buddhist stupa, the most sacred site in Buddhism is the major attraction in east India, visited regularly by both Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims (many Hindus honor the Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu). It marks the spot where Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment.
The holy Bodhi tree is near to the temple to the western side. In the Pali Canon, the side is called Bodhimanda and the monastery there the Bodhimanda Vihara or Pali.
The Mahabodhi Temple is easily accesible from the major towns and cities of Bihar. The nearest airport is located at Patna, around 96kms from Gaya. This is only place that could abide the power of the Buddha's attainment.
Certainly the date of Gautama Buddha’s enlightenment is not known, however Buddhists and historians recognize the Buddha as a historical figure who lived in 5th or 6th century BC and the village of Bodh Gaya is indeed the site of his enlightenment.
Around 3rd century BC the Emperor Asoka, the first Buddhist ruler of India, marked this site with one of his trademark inscribed pillars, with an elephant capital. The uprights have representations of the Vedic gods Indra and Surya, and the railing medallions are carved with mythical beasts.
During the 2nd century, the shrine was replaced by the present Mahabodhi Temple. Around 400, Fa-hien, a Chinese pilgrim, recorded that the site contained several statues and monuments. In the Pala-Sena period (750-1200), the temple was refurbished, but again it was deserted and fell into ruin. The temple was heavily restored by Sir Alexander Cunningham in the second half of the 19th century and finally restored by Burmese Budhists in 1882.
In 1949, the Bodhgaya Act recognize the site as a Buddhist holy place due to the Mahabodhi Society, which was founded with the aim of reclaiming Bodhgaya and the Mahabodhi temple from Hindu to Buddhist control in 1891. The Mahabodhi Temple was declared as a World Heritege Site by UNESCO in 2002.
The present architecture temple dates back from the 5th or 6th centuries is built entirely in brick. The ground level of the temple is 45 meters square, stretching up in a pyramid shape that ends in a smaller square platform. The central tower of Mahabodhi stands 54 meters talls. Outside of the temple, the brickwork depicts scenes from the Buddha’s life.
Inside the temple, a colossal image of a seated Lord Buddha touching the earth with his right hand. Probably it has 1700 years old and positioned in a manner that Lord Buddha faces the east, sitting in a 'Bhumisparsh Mudra' (touching the ground).
The statue is of black stone, covered in gold and dressed in bright orange robes. The courtyard is covered by many smaller stupas and Buddha statues which are several hundreds years old.
Inmediately, next to the temple, visitors could appreciate the Bodhi tree and the Chankramana Chaitya or Jewel Walk, marking the place where the Buddha is said to have practiced walking meditation for seven days after his enlightenment. The Bodhi Tree
The tree of awakening is also known as the Bo Tree, under which after 49 days of meditation and several battles with Mara (illusion), Siddharta Gautama became the Buddha, the "Enlightened One".
The Bodhi Tree is known to botanists as Ficus religiosa, a species of fig in the Moraceae family. The leaves of the tree are somewhat unusual, being cordate in shape with a distinctive extended tip. However the Bodhi Tree that exists today is not the exact one that shaded the Buddha's meditation 2,500 years ago, but it is a direct descendent of the original tree.
In the 3rd century BC, Emperor Asoka's daughter Sanghamitta brought a branch of the Bodhi Tree to Sri Lanka and planted it in Anuradhapura, where it still grows today.
According to one tradition, Asoka's wife destroyed the original Bodhi Tree out of jealousy over the time the emperor spent there. Other accounts have the tree destroyed in the 7th century. But most reports agree that the original tree was destroyed and replanted using a shoot from the Sri Lanka tree.
According to some Buddhists, the Bodhi Tree is the center of the world and the site at which all Buddhas attain enlightenment. The image of a tree was one of the symbols used to represent him. Still today, it is customary to plant a Bodhi Tree in every Buddhist monastery to symbolize the presence of the dharma - Buddhist teachings.