GAYA, Bihar

Main Attraction: The Mahabodhi Temple

The Mahabodhi Temple (Literally: "Great Awakening Temple"), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, marking the location where Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, is said to have attained enlightenment. Bodh Gaya (located in Gaya district) is located about 96 km (60 mi) from Patna, Bihar state, India.

Next to the temple, on its western side, is the holy Bodhi tree. In the Pali Canon, the site is called Bodhimanda, and the monastery there the Bodhimanda Vihara. The tallest tower is 55 metres (180 ft) tall. The Vault of Mahabodhi Temple is being coated with Gold plates weighing 290 kg by the Government of Thailand.

Brief History

The district of Gaya lies virtually in the heart of Bihar. Gaya formed parts of Bihar and Ramgarh districts till 1865. When Behar subdivision was transferred to Patna district in that year, a new district known as the district of Gaya was created. Since its inception in the year 1865 Gaya district was intact till 1972. In January, 1973 Nawada and Aurangabad subdivisions of the district were separated and given the status of independent districts. As a result of reorganization, the district of Gaya was now left with only two subdivisions, viz., Gaya Sadar and Jehanabad. In the same year of 1973 Jehanabad Subdivision of the district was given the status of an independent district on 31st July which left Gaya district with its erstwhile Gaya sub-division only in its area. Further, the Gaya Sadar Sub-division was bifurcated into four sub-divisions viz. Gaya Sadar, Sherghati, Nimchak Bathani and Tekari.

The district is bounded on the north by Arwal, Jehanabad and Nalanda districts, on the east by Nawada district, on the south by Palamu, Chatra and Hazaribag districts of Jharkhand State and on the west by the district of Aurangabad.

Gaya is one of the holiest spots for the Hindus and there is regular flow of pilgrims in the town to offer pindas in the Gaya kshetra or dham. The flow of pilgrims peaks up during Pitripaksha, the first fortnight of the Hindi month of Ashwin, corresponding to September-October. Bodh Gaya, which is situated about 11 kms. south of Gaya town, is also the holiest place for the Buddhists. Buddhists from different countries visit the spot almost daily. It is at Bodh Gaya that Lord Buddha achieved Nirvan or enlightnment. There are interesting legends about the origin of the name ‘Gaya’. The name of Gaya according to the Bhagavata Purana has its origin from a Demon king Gayasure who dwelt in the town. Another legend contained in the Vayu purana suggests that Gaya was the name of a demon who performed a rigid penanace for thousand years.

Early history

The district of Gaya formed an integral part of the ancient kingdom of Magadh which also included the undivided district of Patna. The history of Gaya is, therefore, the history of a part of Magadh. The city of Gaya is among the oldest in the world, has seen the rise and fall of many civilization. Magadh had an unprecedented history, culture and civilization in its palmy days. Gaya was a special part of it, and, therefore, Gaya can doubtless boast of its past. Magadh came into prominence in the sixth century B.C. but legends refer to dynasties ruling here much earlier.

Gaya became prominent during the reign of King Bimbisara, a ruler of the Haryankakula dynasty. It was during this period that both Budda and Mahavira preached their doctrines. It is said that Gautama Buddha was invited to visit the Brahmayoni Hills by the Brahmins and Kshatriyas then living in Gaya. It was from here that Gautama moved to Bodh Gaya and attained enlightenment. Budha then went on to Sarnath to ‘move the wheel of Dharma’. He came to Gaya again and converted the jatila ascetics, and with them went to Rajgir on the invitation of King Bimbisara. Buddha lived in Gaya district for a considerable time and sites of his stay can still be located.

With the fall of the Haryankakula dynasty, the Sisunagas came to power and conquered Avanti(Malva). The Susunagas was set aside by Mahapadmananda, who founded the Nanda dynasty. He extended his empire to include practically the whole of northern India. The Nandas were followed by the Mauryas who established their capital at Patliputra or modern Patna. During the reign of Emperor Ashoka, Gaya came into prominence once again. Ashoka embraced Buddhism, and went on a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya where he built a temple and a monastery. It was during Ashoka’s reign that a branch of the Mahabodhi tree was taken to Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka. Not much is known about the history of Gaya between the end of the Mauryan rule in 184 B.C. and the rise of the Guptas.

The next prominent date in the history of Gaya is about 330 A.D. Samudra Gupta of the Gupta dynasty was the king of Magadh and Meghavarma, the king of Ceylon, built a monastery at Bodh Gaya. A copper plate inscription of Samudragaupta’s time has been found at Gaya. Gaya was the headquarters (Gayadhistan) of the Gaya district (Visheya) in the Gupta empire. An official seal of Gaya Visheya has been found in Nalanda. Local dynasties came into prominence after the fall of the Gupta Empire. In the region of the Barabar Hills a Maukhari feudal dynasty consisting of Yagnavarman, Sardula Varman and Avanti Varman ruled for three generations. Inscriptions of these rulers have been found in the Barabar and Nagarjuna Hills. Later, Gaya was included in the empire of Harsha. Hiuen Tsang, Chinese traveller who visited India between 630 A.D. during the reign of Harsha found the district quite prosperous. There were numerous Buddhist shrines in the district and all were well maintained. He found a magnificent monastery at Gunamati, which has been identified with a place south of Dharawat. In close proximity to this place was the school of Sheelbhadra. The Chinese traveller also visited Gaya and found the town well fortified. He offered worship at Bodh Gaya and was highly impressed by the monasteries and the stupas that stood around the temple and by the monasteries.

After the death of Harsha (648 A.D.) the later Gupta King Madhavagupta, a friend of Harsha, restored the fortunes of the later Gupta dynasty. But north-eastern India was soon plunged into anarchy. This ended with the election of Gopala, who founded the Pala dynasty. Bihar (including Gaya) formed a part of the Pala empire. An inscription of the 20th year of the reign of Dharampala, son of Gopala has been found in Bodh Gaya temple. A large number of images and temples were dedicated in the time of the Pala Kings like Devapala, Surapala and Narayanpala. Some of their inscriptions have been found on images. However, Magadh appears to have passed temporarily under the control of the imperial Gurjara Pratiharas of Kanauj, the inveterate rivals of the Palas. However, Pala King Naryanpala soon recovered the lost Kingdom. The district did not have any important event thereafter until the Afghans overran Bihar including the district of Gaya.

Muslim period

Sometime after 1193 but before 1200 A.D. Mohammad-bin-Bakhtiyar Khilji invaded Bihar. He stormed Oddantapuri (Biharsharif) and Nalanda monasteries. Gaya suffered with other parts of the State. The invaders were intolerant of the monasteries and other non-Islamic religious institutions, and large-scale procecution of the monks and priests ensued. The monasteries and temples were ransacked and destroyed, the monks and priests were slain, and the idols broken. Those monks who could escape fled to Tibet, Nepal and southern India, and Buddhism was practically effaced from the land of its birth. Biharsharif became the headquarters of Muslim rulers in Bihar. Soon after, Gaya was made a part of the Muslim Subah of Bihar. There is inscriptional evidence that Emperor Firoz Tughlak visited village Kako in Jehanabad subdivision on his way to Bihar.

The control of Bihar passed into the hands of the Sherqui dynasty of Jaunpur from 1394 to 1486, Gaya was thus tagged on with the Kingdom of Jaunpur, whose kings granted jagirs to Pathan Chiefs. Rajput and Bhumihar landlords also acquired some power. Sher Shah also held Gaya during his ascendancy to power. After the fall of his dynasty, the Mughals gained control of the district. In the last years of the Mughal empire when the central authority became weak, Gaya was overrun on a number of occasions by the armies of several aspirants to power. During the period of turmoil, the district was split up into a number of principalities, each maintaining its own army. The Raja of Tikari was a very powerful chief in the central part of the district. He openly defied the Viceroys of the Province. This state of affairs continued till the British finally succeeded in establishing their hold over the district.

British period

During the British period, there was no event of consequence except when Raja Ram Narayan, the Deputy Governor of Bihar, led an expedition to punish Bishun Singh, the Zamindar of Siris and Kutumba, on his refusal to pay revenue. Gaya became an integral part of the British empire after the battle of Buxar in 1764. Thereafter the East India Company gained full control over the lower provinces of Bengal. Gradually they built up the edifice of the elaborate administrative machinery wherewith the British governed India for two centuries. It was not till almost a hundred years later that the seething discontent over foreign domination found an organized and sustained expression in the Movement of 1857.

The Movement of 1857

Initially, the success of the movement led by the Rajput chief Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur did not have much impact in the district of Gaya. The Collector of Gaya had been assured of assistance by the local people (particularly Gayawals). The news of further successes of the freedom fighters, however, goaded the wavering elements in Gaya and the Collector found a growing support for the national cause. He apprehended open defiance of his authority even from those who had, earlier pledged their support to him. The Collector immediately quit the town with the Government treasure. No sooner had he moved, the town was besieged by the nationalists. Gaya, which had practically forsaken the foreign yoke for a brief spell was restored to the British by a contingent consisting of Captain Rattray’s Sikh soldiers and some British troops.

In the years following the 1857 movement, the Government took measures to tighten their grip over the Indians. The participants of the movement were crushed and the loyalists rewarded. The natural and innate yearning of the people for complete political independence could not, however, be suppressed for long. Gaya continued to have a prominent place in all freedom movements in the subsequent period. It also became a very important place in the annals of Freedom movement on account of the famous session of the Indian National Congress at Gaya in 1922. Whatever happened thereafter is a matter of modern history and need not be recalled here.