CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020
| Author | Jakab, Eszter Júlia |
|---|---|
| Title | Remembering Enlightenment: Bodh Gaya in the Cultural Memory of Thailand |
| Summary | The site of the Buddha’s enlightenment was once the most flourishing pilgrimage center of Buddhism in India. Yet, by the twelfth century, Buddhism weakened for many reasons and Bodh Gayā became nearly abandoned. The main bulwarks of Buddhism were placed outside the former Indian Buddhist region, and the Buddhist memory of the Mahābodhi in India started to fade away. However, in the nineteenth century, revivalist movements turned the history of the site into a different direction, and Buddhists from abroad declared their intentions to reclaim their Buddhist heritage. By the twentieth-century independence of India, with the work of Burmese rulers and devotees, Sri Lankan activists, and British archaeologists, Bodh Gayā tended to become the center of the Buddhist map again. On the one hand, this meant the change of the religious, social, and economic scenery of the site, which with the intervention of secular bodies into religious matters, and Bodh Gayā’s designation as a World Heritage Site, also brought growing tensions and contestation. On the other hand, the reconnection provided a tool for the players of the pan-Buddhist world, to incorporate the memory and heritage of Bodh Gayā into their current national narratives. One of the most peculiar examples of these is the case of Thailand, a country entering the “revivalist” picture quite late compared to its Burmese and Sri Lankan peers. Yet, it happened at a time when the monarch needed all the legitimation and support possible. We may observe, that from 1956, Thailand established many connections with Bodh Gayā through means of ‘soft power’ and this process has also lead to the emergence of new practices in the homeland, such as erecting replicas of the Mahābodhi. In my thesis, I analyze these points of connection and compare them with the possible political aims behind them. Additionally, I scrutinize the means of commemorating Bodh Gayā in Thailand focusing on the changing motives and practices. |
| Supervisor | Renner, Zsuzsanna; Wilke, Carsten |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2020/jakab_eszter.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University