Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on a Contested Buddhist Site

David Geary is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Oxford, UK. His research interests include religion, diaspora and transnationalism, international development and the politics of World Heritage in South Asia. Matthew R. Sayers teaches religion at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania, USA. His research focuses on the rituals of ancestor worship in the transition from Vedic to Classical expressions of Indian religiosity, focusing particularly on the ritual of śrāddha. Abhishek Singh Amar works in the Department of Religious Studies at Hamilton College, USA. His research interests include archaeological history of Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions in pre-modern India.

Introduction: The Multiple Lives of Bodh Gaya: Defining Views and Changing Perspectives Part 1: Empowering the Landscape of the Buddha 1. Gaya-Bodh Gaya: The Origins of a Pilgrimage Complex 2. Sacred Bodh Gaya : The Buddhaksetra of Gotama Buddha 3. The Changing Landscape at Bodh Gaya 4. Bodh Gaya and the Issue of Originality in Art Part 2: Monumental Conjectures: Rebirths and Retellings 5. Established Usage and Absolute Freedom of Religion at Bodh Gaya: 1861–1915 6. Queen Victoria Beneath the Bodhi Tree: Anagarika Dharmapala as Anti-Imperialist and Victorian 7. Bodh Gaya in the 1950s: Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahant Giri, and Anagarika Munindra C. 8. "Why Cause Unnecessary Confusion?": Re-inscribing the Mahabodhi Temple’s Holy Places Part 3: Universal Dreams and Local Departures 9. World Heritage in the Shadow of Zamindari 10. Maitreya, or The Love of Buddhism: The Non-Event of a Bodh Gaya’s Giant Statue 11. Universal Education and Social Transformation in Bodh Gaya 12. NGOs, Corruption, and Reciprocity in the Land of Buddha’s Enlightenment