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Publication: IANS
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In the land of enlightenment, it's
worship for the goddess of learning. At Bodh Gaya, 113 km from Bihar
capital Patna, adjoining the massive pagoda shrine with its giant
statue of the praying Buddha, a tiny Hindu temple has emerged.
It's dedicated to the goddess Bagga,
another name for Saraswati, the goddess of learning.
The temple seems to be brooding
and suitably dwarfed by the sprawling Buddhist complex around the
shrine and the century old tree, which lies just behind it.
With celebrities like Richard Gere
taking to Buddhism and flying down to India several times a year,
Bodh Gaya, the faith's holiest site is fast becoming an international
city complete with scores of air- conditioned Internet cafes and luxury
hotels that attract hordes of foreigners throughout the year.
Tucked in a corner, with mud steps
and a cave like entrance, the temple seems gloomy and emits a scary
power compared to the cheerful spaciousness and serenity of the Buddhist
shrine. Inside the oil lamp lit temple, the idol is carved in the
wall and half covered by blood red cloth.
It has none of the brightly lit
splendour of the Buddha shrine, with its ancient pond with the beautifully
painted floating Buddha statue, but even then, the temple, which
only came up in the 1600s, is managing to carve out its niche identity.
That, the priests of the temple
say, is because locals believe it was only due to a vision from the
goddess Bagga that Buddha was able to attain nirvana.
"It is said that when Prince Siddhartha
(Buddha before enlightenment) was looking for the truth, he one day
had a vision where he saw the goddess telling him - 'go to that tree
and under it you will find your answers'," said temple priest Kamlesh
Kumar, looking as brooding as his idol, bare-chested and in a red
dhoti, with a streak of vermilion on his forehead.
"And he went to the tree and found
his answers. This temple is to celebrate the goddess who showed Lord
Buddha his way."
But not everyone is happy with the
temple, especially because its local popularity is spurring the mushrooming
of a host of other tiny temples around the Buddhist shrine. "These
little temples are a bit annoying," said Ed Kinney, a Buddhist from
Texas on a visit to Bodh Gaya.
"Buddhists are very non-materialistic
and very quiet. Look at the monks. Most of them are on a vow of silence,"
reasons Kinney.
"But the priests try to fleece money
from gullible visitors and are very noisy. It's a bit polluting."
Nodded his partner from Thailand,
Sirapan Kaewwanarat: "Buddhism is about peace. These temples are
breaking that peace."
But devotees at the temples do not
agree. Said one of the priests, Gokul Maharaj: "Our temples have
as much right to function here as the shrine. We respect them, they
should and do respect us. There's no conflict."
For some it's best of both the worlds.
"We can worship the Buddha and Hindu gods. After all, god is the
same and so all his names and forms are the same," said Shilesh Mishra,
a visitor.
For Kumar, it's a sign of coexistence.
"It shows us that all paths to god are the same. Buddha is nothing
without Bagga and vice-versa."
