At the back of the great Buddha-Gayā temple, I found a stone tablet for offerings, recently brought and fixed horizontally in the ground by another pilgrim who was from Colombo in Ceylon. It bore an inscription indicating that the slab had been placed there as a votive offering by a person calling himself Guṇa-ratna Muddali Rājā of Kolamba-pur. The date carved on it (Buddha-vasse 2427) shows that the Buddhists of Ceylon are no believers in the researches of modern scholars. They still reckon from B.C. 543 for the supposed Nirvāṇa of Buddha.
At a little distance in front of the great Temple, but on the right side, are the two smaller temples called Tārā-devī and Vāgīṡvarī. In the latter is a circular stone with nine circles of complicated ornaments. This is called a Vajrāsana, from the thunderbolt ornament in the second circle, but it is not the true Bodhi-maṇḍa.
I may mention here that a portion of the original Aṡoka stone-railing, with an inscription, lotus-ornaments and carvings, was discovered in a fair state of preservation by Sir A. Cunningham, and is now to be seen in situ. The Buddha’s walking place was unearthed by Mr. Beglar. The massive new brick railing which now encloses the temple has been well constructed after an ancient pattern, and ornamented with numerous carvings representing scenes in the lives of the Buddha ([p. 111]). The paved quadrangle sets the whole off to great advantage. Indeed, the present appearance of the square and the sacred area of ground adjoining—strewn with ruins of the Stūpas erected by Aṡoka and others—and according to the legend by the gods Indra and Brahmā—is one of the most striking sights in all India, and must be seen to be appreciated.
In truth, Buddha-Gayā is a kind of Buddhist Jerusalem, abounding in associations of thrilling interest, not only to the followers of Buddha, but to all who see in that spot the central focus whence radiated a system which for centuries has permeated the religious thought of the most populous regions of Eastern Asia, and influenced the creed of a majority of the human race.
Another remarkable characteristic of this spot is that it was converted into a kind of Buddhist Necropolis, teeming with the remains of generations of the Buddha’s adherents contained in relic-receptacles called Stūpas (pp. [503]-506), some of which have been brought to light, while countless others still remain to be unearthed.
The fact was that immense numbers of pilgrims from all parts of India and the outlying countries once thronged in crowds to Buddha-Gayā, and nearly every pilgrim brought with him a Stūpa or relic-shrine of some kind, according to his means, and deposited it as a votive offering in this hallowed region, either with the object of acquiring religious merit for himself, or of promoting the welfare of the deceased in other states of being. Often it was inscribed with the usual Buddhist formula, Ye Dharmā, etc. (see [p. 104]), and sometimes bore a date and the name of the reigning king. Generally the votive Stūpa contained the relics of deceased relatives—perhaps the ashes of a father or mother, or pieces of bone, or a small fragment of a single bone placed in an earthen vessel or casket of some other material, and buried in the interior of the Stūpa.
Relics, however, were not always forthcoming, and so the votive Stūpas were frequently mere cenotaphs or models in clay or stone of actual Stūpas erected in other places. Often they were beautifully carved and ornamented with rows on rows of images of the Buddha. I obtained some beautiful specimens for the Indian Institute at Oxford, a drawing of one of which will be given (see [p. 505]). Layers on layers of these have been exhumed during the process of the excavations. They are of every variety of size, from three inches to several feet high, and of every variety of material, from terra cotta and clay turned on a potter’s wheel to elaborately sculptured brick and stone. All the upper layers are now gone (those made of clay and pottery having naturally crumbled to pieces), but the lowest are still in situ, and furnish specimens of all ages from the second century to the tenth or twelfth. I noticed hundreds lying about on the ground in 1884.
A sacred tank, mentioned by Hiouen Thsang, is situated three or four hundred yards to the left of the Buddha-Gayā temple. I found, on visiting it, that this hallowed pool is quite as much venerated by Hindūs as by pilgrims from Buddhist countries.
Indeed, I was much struck by the evidence which Buddha-Gayā affords of the inter-relationship between Buddhism and Hindūism—especially that form of the latter called Vaishṇavism. For instance, on one side of the temple I noticed the tombs of the Mahants, or Heads of the neighbouring Hindu monastery, who are buried there in a sitting posture. Near these again are shrines of the five Pāṇḍava heroes (who take the place of the five Buddhas), and a shrine containing the supposed impression of the two feet of Vishṇu. The upper portion of a small Buddhist Stūpa has been sawn off and inverted[196], and Vishṇu’s footsteps carved on the smooth surface. This certainly symbolizes in a remarkable manner the merging of Buddhism in Vaishṇavism, and bears out Dr. Sachau’s assertion that in Alberūnī’s time Vishṇu-worship was dominant in India.
Then, again, on the right of the entrance to the principal temple is a raised platform of earth, on which are images of Vishṇu, Ṡiva, Pārvatī, and Gaṇeṡa. Here I saw a Ṡrāddha ceremony[197], in the act of being performed by some Hindūs—just arrived from the neighbouring town of Gayā. They were repeating their mantras, offering their Piṇḍas, and putting the finishing stroke to the funeral services (previously performed by them at the Vishṇu-pad temple at Gayā), under the shadow of a Pīpal tree, held as sacred by them as by Buddhists.