by Upali Rupasinghe

Buddha Gaya Maha Vihara

With the dedication of Buddha Gaya Maha Bodhi Temple Complex comprising the Sri Maha Bodhi Tree and the Vajrasana or Diamonds Seat as a World Heritage Site, Senanigama, the village of Sujata who made the first offering of food to the Buddha has become a place of more importance.

India's Minister for Tourism and Culture, Jagmohan while addressing a gathering of over 4,000 distinguished guests and invitees from India and abroad on the day of the dedicating ceremony said that the Government will not only make Buddha Gaya the most beautiful city in the world but also develop Senanigama as a place of Buddhist importance.

Senanigama, situated in the Gaya district in Bihar is today known as Bakraur. It is about a kilometre north-east of the Maha Bodhi Temple. The place is venerated by the Buddhists all over the world as the prominent centre of pilgrimage. River Neranjana, on the eastern bank of which Bakraur is located, flows between the small town of Bodh-Gaya and the ancient site.

Excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India at the site believed to be where Sujatha lived.

In order to unfold the location of the place where Sujata lived, excavations were done at the site of Bakraur which is in the neighbourhood of Uruvela on the eastern bank of the Neranjana. It evidently formed a part of the Uruvela tract, which covered a large area.

The Lalitavistara calls it Senapatinagar. Pali texts refer to this village with the name of Sujata which is immortal in he history of Buddhism. A sweetened milk rice preparation was offered by her to the ascetic Siddhartha who had given up physical mortification for six years in quest of Salvation. Siddharatha accepted the milk-rice preparation when he was convinced that austerities of extremity are not going to lead him to Enlightenment. He, therefore, decided to follow the Middle Path.

Sujatha had prayed to God for the blessing of a son and pledged to offer milk rice preparation to the god of the banyan tree nearby if her prayer was accepted. The boon was granted and son was born to her. When she went to offer the milk-rice preparation, the tree god has presented himself in person to accept the offering.

The circular mound at Bakraur, just to the north of the village rises to a height of eleven metres. This mound apparently representing ruins of a large Stupa was noticed by Alexander Cunningham in 1861. It is locally called Katani. Cunningham identified the mound with that of the Stupa known to Buddhist tradition as the Gandha-hasti-Stupa.

Hiuen-Tsang mentions the place as Ajaypura. Regarding this mound Cunningham writes "To the eastward of Bodh Gaya on the opposite bank of Phalgu or Lilanjan River and immediately to the north of the village of Bakraur, there are the ruins of a large brick tope, with a stump of a Sand-Stone pillar at a short distance to the north.

The ruined mound is 150 feet in diameter at base and 50 feet high." The Sand-stone pillar seen by Cunningham at the said site is no longer traceable therein. The mound was subjected to constant robbing primarily to collect bricks to be used in the construction of houses in the village of Bakraur and for hidden treasurers.

A tank known as Matanga-Vapi is reported by Cunningham and is situated about 500 yards to the south-east of the Stupa. It is lined with ancient embankments and a modern Saiva temple of Matangesvara. Since Matanga in Sanskrit means an elephant, the name of the tank may be said to preserve a reminiscence of the Buddhist legend of Gandha-hasti-Stupa.

There is another tank in the area known as Marttanda Pokhar or Suraj-Pokhar (Kund). It measures 800 Square feet and is lined with masonry walls. On the bank of the river and on the side of the above tank are temples built which contains sculptures taken from earlier ruins. These ruins excavated by Mr. K.M. Shrivastava of the Archaeological Survey of India during the year 1972-73.

The excavation, of the Bakraur (Sujata) Stupa, revealed three stages of construction in the Stupa.

In its earliest form the Pradakshinapatha was two metres, where as the diameter of the Stupa was 55 metres. There was an enclosure wall around them. Subsequently when the devotees enlarged the diameter of the Stupa and also raised its height, the original Pradakshinapatha was covered up.

An altogether new feature of this stage was the five metre wide Pradakshinapatha made of thick lime plaster. In the third stage of construction, an enclosure wall of burnt bricks covered by lime-plasters, a railing and a gateway were provided. The Stupa was also covered with lime plaster raising the maximum diameter in the later stage to 65.5 metres. The railings and pillars were made of stone.

Several plaques of Buddha in the Bhumisparsa-mudra made probably of plaster, but surprisingly light in weight were the most outstanding discovery of the excavation. The inscription on them can easily be interpreted to mean that the Stupa was erected during the reign of Pala ruler Devapala in A.D. 815 to 855 to commemorate the place where Sujata lived.

The Bhumisparsa mudra indicates that Buddha underwent physical austerities inviting earth goddess to stand as a witness and protect him from the attraction of demon Mara. The inscribed plaques now establish that this was the place where the pious lady Sujata used to reside.

A fragmentary ear ornament of gold, small plaques of plaster, beads of agate and terracotta, silver punched mark coins, head, torso and multiple Buddha in Stone along with a few ornamental pieces and fragmentary terracotta sealings were the most significant discoveries of the said excavation.

Apart from the Gandha-hasti-Stupa, it seems that the entire village is situated on the ruins of the ancient mound nearly 5 to 10 feet raised than the natural level of the soil.

In the course of exploration of the said site, archaeologists have come across various valuable antiquities unearthed from ditches, and by surface exploration, right from Gupta to Pala period.

Archaeological Survey of India has re-started excavations in the ruins in the shape of a Stupa. Archaeologists attached to the Patna circle of the Archaeological Survey of India now believe that it is the very spot where Sujata lived.

Today hundreds of pilgrims as well as tourists from India and abroad visit Senanigama to see the place where Sujata offered milk-rice to the Buddha as well as the place where she lived.

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