The Maha Bodhi Society is a South Asian Buddhist society founded by the Sri Lankan Buddhist leader Anagarika Dharmapala. The organization's self-stated initial efforts were for the resuscitation of Buddhism in India, and restoring the ancient Buddhist shrines at Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinara.
Although some Indians had remained culturally Buddhist for centuries after the decline of Buddhist philosophy, they did not self-identify as "Buddhist" and were not interested in preserving the teachings of Buddhism. The Maha Bodhi Society renewed this interest, and spawned the Ladakh Buddhist Association, All Assam Buddhist Association, and Himalayan Buddhist Society, as well as laying the grounds for the Dalit Buddhist movement.
In 1891, while on pilgrimage to the recently restored Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, the location where Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) attained enlightenment, Anagarika Dharmapala had experienced a shock to find the temple in the hands of a Saivite priest, the Buddha image transformed into a Hindu icon and Buddhists barred from worship as a result of which he began an agitation movement. The Buddhist renaissance inaugurated by Anagarika Dharmapala through his Mahabodhi Movement has also been described as "conservative" for it considered Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent responsible for the decay of Buddhism in India, in the then current mood of Hindu-Buddhist brotherhood.
The Mahabodhi society at Colombo was founded in 1891 but its offices were moved to Calcutta the following year. One of its primary aims was the restoration of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, the chief of the four ancient Holy sites to Buddhist control. To accomplish this Dharmapala initiated a lawsuit against the Brahmin priests who had held control of the site for centuries. After a protracted struggle this was successful with the partial restoration of the site to the management of the Maha Bodhi Society in 1949.
After the defeat of the Palas by the Hindu Sena dynasty, Buddhism's position again began to erode and was soon followed by the conquest of Magadha by General Ikhtiar Uddin Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khilji. During this period, the Mahabodhi Temple fell into disrepair and was largely abandoned. During the 16th century, a Hindu monastery was established near Bodh Gaya. Over the following centuries, the monastery's abbot or mahant became the area's primary landholder and claimed ownership of the Mahabodhi Temple grounds.
In the 1880s, the-then British government of India began to restore Mahabodhi Temple under the direction of Sir Alexander Cunningham. In 1891, Anagarika Dharmapala started a campaign to return control of the temple to Buddhists, over the objections of the mahant. The campaign was partially successful in 1949, when control passed from the Hindu mahant to the state government of Bihar, which established a temple management committee. The committee has nine members, a majority of whom, including the chairman, must by law be Hindus. Mahabodhi's first head monk under the management committee was Anagarika Munindra, a Bengali man who had been an active member of the Maha Bodhi Society. Sarnath
In 1931 the Mulaghandakuti Vihara was erected at Sarnath, an ancient Buddhist site. Kushinara Kushinagar
The site of the Buddha's parinibbana (physical death) at Kushinagar has once again become a major attraction for Burmese Buddhists, as it was for many centuries previously.
Maha Bodhi Society branches have been established in several countries, most significantly in India and Sri Lanka. A United States branch was founded by Dr. Paul Carus.
The Maha Bodhi Society has a robust tradition of publications, spanning from Pali translations into modern Indian vernacular languages (such as Hindi) to scholarly texts and new editions of Pali works typeset in Devanagari to appeal to a Hindi-educated Indian audience. They have also published books and pamphlets in local/regional languages and dialects, sometimes in partnership with other presses.
As of as of 2003[update], the Maha Bodhi Society of India's general secretary is Dombagoda Rewatha Thero. On September 27, as of 2004[update], B. K. Modi was elected president; he was previously vice-president. Modi was, until recently, an office-holder in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
There is also a Maha Bodhi Society of Bangalore, founded by Acharya Buddharakkhita in 1956, which is not a part of or tied to the Maha Bodhi Society of India or Sri Lanka. Leadership
At a meeting in September 2008, the Maha Bodhi Society passed a rule that only persons born into Buddhist families will be eligible to serve as president or as one of the Indian vice-presidents of the Society. The outgoing president, B. K. Modi, was a Hindu; he assumed the position of patron. At the same meeting, the 14th Dalai Lama was given the new title of chief patron
Under the able guidance of Ven. Dr. D. Rewatha Thero , Present General Secretary of the Maha Bodhi Society of India, Buddhagaya centre is extending a commendable service to the Society and the Buddhist community around the globe.
- A pilgrims guest house with all facilities
- A small Shrine Room for pilgrims and Visitors.
- Communication Facilities
Founded by Lt. Ven. Bulath Singhala Pannarama Thero , the dispensary looks after the needs of the local and needy people by giving them free medicines and treatment. A team of dedicated doctors and staff help in maintaining the proper functioning of the Dispensary.
A free School for Children :
The Maha Bodhi Vidyapeeth is a free school which is dedicated in giving the gift of Knowledge to the needy and less fortunate children of the locality. It has a strength of about 155 students and is still growing in numbers. The Centre believes that the child who attaings education can an asset to the Society.
An Ambulance Service:
Started in 1997, the Ambulance service is serving the community by taking the sick peo;oe to hospitals at a minimum cost so that the service is inexpensive and easy to use by less fortunate ,ambulance service the Buddhagaya Centre of the Maha Bodhi Society of India is one of the first to reach the spot of any natural calamity of disaster.
Free Educational Sponsorship for the Handicap:
The Buddhagaya Centre also provides free sponsorship to the deserving candidates who are physically handicap children and is presently sponsoring few such deserving candidates.
- A tiny canteen to serve the pilgrims residing in the guest house.
- A Book Shop.
- A Meditation Hall.
- Monastic Training Centre for novices.
Mahabodhi Society Buddhist organisation, established in Kolkata in May 1892, chapter of the Mahabodhi Society of Sri Lanka, founded by the Sri Lankan scholar, anagarik dharmapal, on 31 May 1891 in Colombo. The purpose of the Mahabodhi Society was to revive buddhism and improve the condition of Buddhists.
The first president of the society was Sir asutosh mookerjee and its general secretary, Anagarik Dharmapal. A vihara was inaugurated by Dharmarajik Chaitya at 4-A Bankim Chatterjee Street in Kolkata on 20 November 1920, where some relics of gautam buddha were deposited. The society initiated moves to revive Buddhism throughout India by propagating Buddhist teachings and ideals. It also attempted to reestablish the rights of Buddhists at Buddhagaya and to revive Buddhist sites of pilgrimage.
In 1900, the society set up four branches at Buddhagaya, Madras and Kushinagar in India and at Anuradhapur in Sri Lanka. A vihara was also established at Buddhagaya. The society was successful in getting four Buddhists inducted into the board of directors of Buddhagaya vihara after India gained independence in 1947. Lately, the Indian Government has given the responsibility of running the temple to a Buddhist bhiksu. In due course, branches of the society were set up at Bombay, Delhi, Lucknow, Ajmer, Sanchi, Bhubaneswar, and Rajasthan.
Apart from Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, other famous men who were associated with the society included Mahatma Gandhi, Rajendra Prasad, Deshbandhu chitta ranjan das, rabindranath tagore, S Radhakrishnan and Raja Gopalachari.
The society publishes books on Buddhism, and has published translations of the tripitaka in different Indian languages. It has been publishing Mahabodhi, a journal, since 1892. [Rebatpriya Barua]
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