A brief history
Just before the full moon day in the month of Visakha (Apr-May), around the year 528 BCE, a young ascetic of noble birth, worn out by years of self-denial, arrived on the outskirts of the small village of Uruvela, nestled by the banks of the Niranjana River. He settled himself under the spreading branches of the nearby tree and prepared to begin his meditation. Just then, a young woman named Sujata happened to pass by. She noticed how thin he was, and quickly ran home to bring him a bowl of kheer and sweet honey. Strengthened by this nutritious meal, the ascetic began his meditation. Eventually the clouds of ignorance dissolved and he saw the Truth in all its glory and splendour. He was no longer Prince Siddhartha or the ascetic Gautama. He became the Awakened One, the Compassionate One, the Light of the World, the Buddha , the Supreme. The Buddha spent the next seven weeks near Uruvela, experiencing the bliss of enlightenment and moving to a different location every seven days. Then he set off for Sarnath near Varanasi to proclaim to the world the profound and liberating truths he had realised. Some months later, he returned to Uruvela where the brothers Nadi, Gaya and Uruvela Kassapa, followed by their thousand disciples, bowed at the Buddha's feet and asked him to ordain them as monks. This done, they all set out for Rajgir. There is no evidence that the Buddha ever returned to Uruvela. By the 2nd century BCE, the name Uruvela had fallen into abeyance and the village came to be known as Sambodhi, Vajrasana or Mahabodhi. The name Bodh Gaya only came into use in the 18th century.

The Mahabodhi statue is believed to be an exact likeness of the Buddha himself. When the temple was built it was decided to enshrine a statue in it but, for a long time, no sculptor good enough could be found. One day a man appeared saying that he could do the job. He asked for a pile of scented clay and a lighted lamp to be put in the temple sanctum, and for the door to be locked for six months. This was done but, being impatient, people opened the door four days before the required time. Inside was found a statue of great beauty, perfect in every detail except for a small part on the breast that was unfinished. Sometime later, a monk who slept in the sanctum had a dream in which the Buddha appeared and said that it was he who had made the statue. The Mahabodhi image was the most revered statue in the Buddhist world, and is mentioned in records for nearly a thousand years. The main temples at both Nalanda and Vikramashila had replicas of this statue. When the Chinese scholar Hieu