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.