ABSTRACT
The establishment of the Maha-Bodhi Society by Anagarika Dharmapala in 1891 to secure control of the sacred Mahabodhi Temple, the place where the Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment, did irreparable damage to their long association. Dharmapala’s ever-increasing anti-Hindu stance was becoming awkward for Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. Dharmapala was heavily influenced by the enormously popular The Light of Asia by Edwin Arnold, whom he reverenced as his ‘English guru’. Arnold travelled to Bodhgaya in 1886, and later visited Ceylon, where he was graciously received. When Dharmapala first arrived in Bodhgaya, he was an advocate of occult science and spiritual pluralism rather than a Sinhalese Buddhist, and he had not developed any anti-Hindu sentiments. He was rather considered as a chela of Master Khoot Hoomi. As per Dharmapala’s writings, Arnold’s eloquent plea directly inspired him, ‘The idea of restoring the Buddhist Jerusalem into Buddhist hands originated with Edwin Arnold after having visited the sacred spot in 1886.
