Hindu monk strives to save Mahabodhi temple

SAVING THE TREE: The man fighting to secure the future of this Buddhist site is a Hindu monk.

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Bodh Gaya: The Mahabodhi temple is one of the holiest shrines for more than 35 crore Buddhists around the world. However, in the last few years this place has been in news for all the wrong reasons.

Today the situation is so grim that it is threatening the very existence of this holy site, including that of the sacred Bodhi tree.

The sacred peepal tree grows just behind the western wall of the Mahabodhi temple. Over 3.5 million devotees and tourists pray below the tree where the Buddha attained enlightenment.

In the past, entire branches of the tree were chopped off, allegedly by monks who sold bits of the tree to rich foreign devotees.

Today, the man fighting to secure the future of this Buddhist site is a Hindu monk.

“This tree is sick, its dying and the branches have been cut. Each leaf can fetch up to Rs 100 and even 100 dollar sometimes,” says Hindu monk, Arup Brahmachari.

The Bodh Gaya Temple Act says the head of the temple management committee has to be a Hindu - something most Buddhist monks are opposed to.

”Hindus run their own temples, Muslims run their own mosques, Christians have their churches to themselves. Mahabodhi temple must be run by Buddhists,” says Buddhist Monk, Pragya Sheel.

But the district administration is not ready to give up its stake in the cash rich temple. Crores of rupees come in as donations every year and the administration says they need to be involved in running the temple.

”This place is important not just from the point of view of temple but also tourism, we need to keep both these things in mind,” says District Magistrate, Gaya, Sanjay Singh.

The district administration has confirmed to CNN-IBN that at least four Buddhist foundations in Bodh Gaya are being investigated for fund mismanagement. However, it says the matter is too sensitive to be made public.

“This involves the religious sentiment of the people. We have to be careful. Also this involves monasteries being built by foreign countries. We have to move very carefully,” says District Magistrate, Gaya, Sanjay Singh.

To clear up the mess, the State government had drawn a master plan for Bodh Gaya for the year 2030, which aims to convert the area around the temple into a green zone, but two years after the plan was unveiled, the ground reality is very different.

Monasteries like this one being built by Thai Monks are coming up within the green zone of the proposed master plan where construction is completely prohibited.

Today many of those who came here in search of peace are feeling disappointed. Dwarka Sundarani came to Bodh Gaya almost five decades ago and never went back, however, today he feels out of place.

“Buddha came here for enlightenment. Material life is developed here. But Buddha did not come here for material wealth,” says Resident, Bodh Gaya, Dwarka Sundarani.

Sirisopa is a devotee from Thailand and on her fourth visit to the temple she says that the money business is going from bad to worse.

“The little children outside the temple shout, pull at ours shirts and ask for money. There is so much commercialization,” says Buddhist Devotee, Sirisopa.

However, not everyone has lost hope. Priya pal is a young monk who is trying to turn things around. From filing right to information applications to speaking his mind in public forums this monk is demanding more transparency in the running of the temple.

“Our rights have been snatched away, we have to work hard to improve things here,” says Priya Pal.

Priya Pal believes that local communities should also have a stake in the temple. He warns against harming the interests of those whose livelihood depends on the temple.

Perhaps Bodh Gaya needs more people like Priya Pal, who know that something needs to be done urgently before it's too late.