He is cross-legged, his hands in his lap, seated in the meditation posture. Then there is the Great Buddha, an 80ft statue on an inverted sandstone lotus, which in turn rests on a bed of red granite. It is possible, as you sit in its shade, to feel something that approaches serenity. It is an enormous green banyan tree protected by a wall, an enclosure and guards. Nearby is an offshoot of an offshoot of the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha found enlightenment. It is a surprise, not for the style of its architecture, which dates from the 5th century BC, but because it is one of the few places on the Buddhist trail that appears well-maintained. The Mahabodhi Temple Complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and marks the place where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. It is in Bodh Gaya that the traveller will find something to equal the object of his pilgrimage. ‘It is possible for sentient beings to realise a dimension of awareness which is totally unconstructed and peaceful’-Buddhist proverb Does a piece of the Buddha grace an entrance hall where guests pay it more reverence than the picnickers at the original site? Does it stand as a symbol of inner wealth to a man who has installed it in his hutment, where the sun and rain are the only benedictions he receives? All he has to do is hack off a head (though none are left). An interested party can wait till nightfall and make off with whatever takes his fancy. Of the hundreds of Buddha figures that decorated the stupa, none that I saw were intact they were missing a head, or an arm, or indeed the entire torso. At the time of my visit, the work at the site appeared to have been abandoned long ago.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |