Conflicting Reports on Mahabodhi Tree Status

Patna: July 23 2006

A six-member team of Sri Lankan government led by Sri Lankan leader of the Opposition R. Wikramsinghe, on Saturday arrived at Bodh Gaya and much to the relief of many, concluded that holy tree under which once Lord Buddha sat and attained enlightenment over 2500 years ago was not tampered with and the tree looked in good shape.

The investigative team also inspected the entire Mahabodhi Temple complex and thanked the state government for taking the case of the 'mysterious cutting of one of its branches' seriously and ordering an enquiry into it.

The Sri Lankan team arrived at Bodh Gaya at 1:40 pm where they were received by the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India C. R. Jaisinghe and District Magistrate and the president of the temple management committee Jitendra Srivastava, among other senior officials.

Before leaving, Wikramsinghe was also presented with a replica of the temple.

Some local media, however, reported that the Sri Lankan team did in fact find the tree vandalized and expressed their shocks over it. PatnaDaily.Com though could not verify the authenticity of the report.

As reported previously, rumor spread that some identified person chopped off a branch of the Mahabodhi tree and sold it to some Japanese tourist for a hefty sum of money.

Former Chief Minister of Bihar Mrs. Rabri Devi, trying to derive maximum political mileage of the rumor, had demanded a high-level enquiry while accusing the state government of trying to cover up the branch-cutting incident. She also demanded immediate sacking of state Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah for delivering his verdict that the tree was untouched following his investigative trip to Bodh Gaya on Friday.