2023, Vol. 5, Issue 2, Part A

Author(s): Santoshi Kumari

Abstract: The article makes an attempt to present a historical account of Hindu sacred space of Gaya, a district located in Bihar. Present structure of Visnupada temple on the banks of Phalgu river constructed under the patronage of Ahilya Bai Holkar is the most important symbol of Hindu sacred space in the region. The temple has a footprint which is worshipped as Visnupada in the sanctum sanctorum. Throughout the year other than local worshippers the temple attracts lakhs of pilgrims which increases during the time of pitṛpakṣa, i.e., the fifteen days allotted in Hindu calendar for paying obeisance to ancestors, but it struggles to establish its historicity among the academia. Large part of academia believes that the footprint is of the Buddha. It was appropriated by the Brahmanas and was presented as Hindu icon of worship. This essay, through textual sources will attempt to establish the antiquity of Hindu sacrality of Gaya; which is in academic world recognised only as a sacred space for Buddhism.

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