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Reclaiming Buddhist shrines
Little is known to those of the younger generation about Anagarika Dharmapala’s untiring efforts to make Buddha Gaya and Saranath accessible to Buddhist pilgrims

Since only Westminister history was in the school curriculum of pre-independence Sri Lanka, even Lankan Buddhists did not know of the prodigious effort put in by Anagarika Dharmapala so that we may now worship at Buddha Gaya and Saranath.

Post-Independence, has this knowledge improved through tourism to these spots?
At first Anagarika Dharmapala's energy went into reclaiming Buddha Gaya for the Buddhists of the world from Indian billionaire Mahanta who was keeping this spot like a pigsty. But it became a long drawn-out court battle; so Dharmapala turned to Saranath where Lord Buddha preached his first sermon.
This place too was equally in dire straits so he immediately dashed off a letter to the collector (British) at Benares requesting him to restore and conserve the sacred site. "Where once devotees walk, now village pigs roam.

To 475 million Buddhists, the Deer Park at Saranath is as holy as Jerusalem and Mecca. I request that you will, in a spirit of enlightened generosity, place at the disposal of the Maha Bodhi Society the land within the precincts of the thorpe which I understand is government property... your name will be enshrined in Buddhist history as the liberator of the shrine so dear to the Buddhists," he said.

That too was to become a long wait so he purchased a plot of land in the heart of Isipathana deer park, Saranath.The Government raised objections. He then toured Japan, America, London, Holland, Denmark and Italy, preaching the Dharma and collecting funds for the development of the sacred sites of the Buddha, today the route of pilgrimage. On the side, he was also visiting industrial schools and practical classes so that similar ventures could be set up in Lanka.

Returning to Saranath, he started an industrial school for the benefit of the youth there. His Maha Bodhi Journal was popular and had a fair circulation in India and abroad. He now initiated Pali classes at the Calcutta University, a step to propagate Buddhism.

He returned to Colombo several times and started the Sinhala Bauddhaya and the Maha Bodhi printing press as well as schools in Hiniduma and Rajagiriya. Funds were donated by Mary Foster Robinson of Honolulu.

Meanwhile, the Gaya Temple case raged on. With Mary Foster's help, he purchased a property in Calcutta for the Maha Bodhi Society headquarters.
Back in Ceylon, he started the National Revival Movement, travelling by bullock cart from village to village, expressing anti-imperial opinions. He set up the Foster Robinson hospital for free medical expertise and free medicine. It was named Santhagaraya. People from the four corners of Ceylon began sending medicinal herbs to this hospital. The Maha Bodhi College was started next door.

At this stage the World War began and the British, to contain Dharmapala, who was in Calcutta, arrested his brother Edmund on false charges of treason and sentenced him by martial law to penal servitude for life. He died in two months in a Jaffna prison.

Dharmapala, in Calcutta, was under house arrest for five years. He spent the time building a vihare in Calcutta. The Maharaja of Baroda and the Birla brothers (textile kings) contributed hugely as did Mary Foster. The Governor of Bengal, Lord Ronaldshay handed a relic of the Buddha in a crystal casket which was taken in a carriage drawn by six horses round the square before being enshrined in the new stupa. Two thousand Buddhists from many countries attended the ceremony. The Maha Bodhi Society was now a registered body. It was chaired by Sir Ashutosh of the Calcutta University. Dharmapala was General Secretary.

He then created the International Buddhist Institute to train students from every corner of the Buddhist world. Funds for Mulagandhakuti came in unexpectedly from various sources. When it was nearing completion, Dharmapala, now aged, became a bhikku.

The completed Mulagandhakuti was a magnificent structure, 200 feet high, in red stone. In a colourful ceremony, the Director General of Archaeology representing Lord Willington, presented the Buddha relics to the Maha Bodhi Society.

It was received by Justice Nath Mukherjee, President of the Maha Bodhi Society in Calcutta. The relics were placed on an elephant sent by the Maharaja of Benares who took them to the Mulagandhakuti Vihare. The relics were then deposited in a vault underneath the statue of the Buddha in preaching posture. Dharmapala, now Sri Devamitta Dharmapala, watched the proceedings from his wheelchair.

A public meeting was held in the evening attended by over 1,000 visitors from Tibet, Burma, Siam, Ceylon and Japan and Dharmapala gave a stirring address.
Next morning, three saplings from the Anuradhapura Bo Tree were planted there. The Anuradhapura Bo Tree was a sapling from the Bo Tree at Buddha Gaya under which Prince Siddhartha attained Enlightenment.

B.L. Broughton, President of the British Maha Bodhi Society offered Rs. 10,000 as his personal donation to paint the walls of Mulagandhakuti with frescoes by a Japanese artist Kosetsu Nosu. It took Nosu three and a half years to paint the beautiful frescoes. Former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his family too visited the temple.

To the very end Dharmapala supervised the final details of work at the Mulagandhakuti. He kept reminding everybody not to forget the Buddha Gaya question. He was not taking enough nourishment. Food was injected much against his will. Then Dharmapala called for pen and paper to write something important. “Dr. Nandi, I am tired of injections.” While pirith was being chanted, Dharmapala passed away. There was a serene smile on his face. Hundreds from far and near came to Saranath for the funeral. There behind his Mulagandhakuti, he was cremated.

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