Bomb Blasts at India’s Buddhist Mecca in Bihar

Nine low intensity bombs went off within fifteen minutes early Sunday morning inside the Mahabodhi temple complex, a Unesco World Heritage site, and one of the holiest sites associated with the life of Buddha in Bodh Gaya in the northern Indian state of Bihar. India’s Home Secretary, Anil Goswami told reporters that four explosions occurred inside the temple complex, three others shook a nearby monastery and an eighth exploded near a statue of Buddha. Two other bombs were defused, Mr. Goswami added.

The blasts injured two Buddhist monks, one from Myanmar and the other from Nepal. The injured monks are being treated at a local government hospital, according to the local authorities.

Around 200 people were on the temple premises when the blasts took place in succession around the complex, according to local residents. No deaths have been reported. “After the first blast, the temple was engulfed in black smoke,” said Rakesh Kumar, who runs a coffee shop outside the temple complex. “I saw such a panic near the temple for the first time,” Mr. Kumar added. “It was really terrifying. I am grateful that Lord Buddha saved us.”

The Mahabodhi temple complex is the site where Buddha is believed to have found enlightenment under a peepul tree, several years after leaving his kingdom and meditating in the forests of Gaya area. An exquisite 50-meter, or 160-foot, high structure, the Mahabodhi temple is an architectural marvel built of bricks. It was first built by Emperor Ashoka in 270 B.C. but later rebuilt by another ruler in the 5th century. Apart from its religious significance, Unesco cited its influence on architecture in India and its “sculpted stone balustrades” as “an outstanding early example of sculptural reliefs in stone,” among the reasons for its inclusion as a World Heritage site.

The Bodhi tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment died, but the tradition has been kept alive by planting generations of peepul trees in its place. A fifth-generation peepul tree, about 24 meters high and 115 years old, stands inside the temple complex, where the original tree, known as the Bodhi Tree had stood.

“There was some damage to the staircases near the Bodhi tree, and some window panes were broken,” Bhikshu Chalinda, the senior monk at the temple, said in a telephone interview from Bodh Gaya.

Hundreds of thousands of Buddhist pilgrims visit Gaya every year from Japan, China, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and several other countries. Bodh Gaya is the only place in the impoverished state of Bihar that has attracted tourists and substantial funding from Buddhist countries. The visitors to the Mahabodhi temple complex have included the Dalai Lama of Tibet; the former military dictator of Myanmar, General Than Shwe; and President Mahinda Rajapaksha of Sri Lanka.

The growing pilgrim tourism has brought economic benefits and crowded the ancient town of Bodh Gaya in the past decade. The social and economic life of Gaya, the nearest town, around 15 kilometers, or nine miles, from the Mahabodhi temple, revolves around serving and catering to the pilgrims visiting the Buddhist sites. Over 50 monasteries of different Buddhist countries and sects have been built in the vicinity of the temple complex. So have hundreds of hotels and guesthouses.

The pilgrimage town is overwhelmed by beggars and its streets choked with dirt and filth. Street children routinely con foreign Buddhist pilgrims by selling them fake leaves of the holy peepul tree for a few dollars each. A mini-industry of nongovernmental organizations seeks foreign funds to ostensibly help the poor of Bodh Gaya. Around 300 such organizations operate in the area.

The terror attack on the Buddhist town came as a surprise to India. Just a few months ago, the Mahabodhi temple gate was manned by mere two armed security personnel, who spent most of their time chasing away persistent beggars. Private guards employed by the temple management handled the light security operations inside. The temple entrance did have some metal detectors and close circuit cameras had been installed as well.

Officials of the Bihar police have blamed the bomb blasts on the lack of training and competence of private security guards employed by the temple management to guard it. “They have failed to take adequate caution despite warnings,” said Nayyer Hussain Khan, deputy inspector general for the police in the Magadh Range division of Bihar.

India’s Home Ministry has described the bomb blasts as a terror attack. “It does seem like a terror attack but we cannot give any details till the investigation is done,” R.P.N. Singh, the minister of home affairs, told the Indian news media. Local reports have been quoting unnamed intelligence officials who say they suspect that an Islamic militant group, Indian Mujahideen, is behind the attack, but no evidence has been presented.

Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, who visited Bodh Gaya, refrained from blaming any particular group for the bomb blasts. “The perpetrators targeted a place of religious faith of scores of people with an aim to create fear among them,” Mr. Kumar said. He announced that the National Investigation Agency and the Bihar police will investigate the attacks. “The attacks were carried out to create fear and divide the society,” Mr. Kumar told reporters in Bodh Gaya.

“Over the many years that I have visited it, Bodh Gaya, and the Bodhi Tree in particular, has offered a promise of serenity â€" and has been an intimation, with its visitors from all around the world, of the great Buddhist cosmopolis. It is deeply upsetting to hear of its violation,” said Pankaj Mishra, the Indian writer and author of acclaimed book on Buddha, “An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World.”

“But while allegations and rumors fly and politicians and media pundits step up the rhetoric this is the time to reflect on the Buddha’s view of suffering, and our innate capacity to harm, which emerged out of a profound reckoning with the increasingly impersonal violence of his own time,” Mr. Mishra added.