The Revival of Buddhist Pilgrimage at Bodh Gaya (1811-1949): Anagarika Dharmapala and the Mahabodhi Temple

Alan Trevithick spent three years researching primary documents in New Delhi, Sarnath, Colombo, and London, in order to present this history (1874-1949) of the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya. This is the first such account, and it details for the first time the administrative, legal and legislative activities which shaped the temple’s current status as one of the world’s most popular pilgrimage sites. Also included is an innovative biographical essay on Anagarika Dharmapala, the Sinhalese activist who first came to India in the late nineteenth century as a guest of the theosophical society: his subsequent actions substantially affected the development of Bodh Gaya as a site of international importance.