The imposing pyramidal
Mahabodhi Temple
at Bodh Gaya in Bihar
The tower soars to
a height of 180 ft.
Close to the temple
near the west wall
grows a pipal tree
which is said to be
descended from the
original Bodhi tree under which
the Buddha received enligthenment.
Muslim Invasions Give The Fatal Blow To Buddhism
The last fatal blow to this once virile religion came from a non-Indian impetus - the Muslim invasion of north India in the 12th century. The defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan and Jaichandra Gahadawal (Rathore) in 1192 and 1194 respectively by the Afghan raider, Mahmud Ghori opened up the Gangetic plains to the ruthless invader where the Buddhist (and Hindu) centres of learning were located. The destruction of monasteries and the slaughter of monks that followed the headlong rush, of the Muslim invaders, down the Ganges stilled the agony of this once glorious order into the silence of death.
Thus passed out of existence in the land of its birth a religion that touched the lives of millions of humans not only in India but in China, Japan, Korea and other countries of Central Asia and South-East Asia. Buddhism in India was to remain a dead religion until the 20th century.
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