From Bodh Gaya to Mumbai, protests to ‘free’ Buddhist temple gather steam

When 24-year-old Vishal Kadam visited the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya last January, he was keen to see the spot where the Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment.

What caught Kadam’s eye, however, were idols of Hindu gods and goddesses in corners of the temple compound.

“There was very little of the essence of Buddhism,” Kadam said. “There were so many priests performing pooja and claiming they could solve the problems of the pilgrims through rituals,” he said.

It left him disturbed, he said, as Buddhism cautioned believers against such practices.

Buddhism was born in the 6th century BC as an alternative to the emphasis on ritual and caste hierarchy in Hinduism. The Mahabodhi temple is one of the four shrines associated with the Buddha and revered by followers of the religion.

Kadam remembers discussing the presence of Hindu rituals at the temple with his family members in Mumbai.

So, in February, when several Buddhist monks began an indefinite hunger strike in Bodh Gaya, demanding full control of the Mahabodhi temple, Kadam decided to join in.

A lab technician in a private hospital, Kadam took time off work to join rallies in Mumbai’s Chembur and Bandra areas to demand that the Bodh Gaya Temple Act, 1949, be repealed. “We are demanding that what...

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