Satellite images suggest architectural wealth beneath Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya: officials

Geospatial analysis reveals buried architectural wealth at Mahabodhi temple complex in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, through satellite images and ground surveys.

A geospatial analysis utilising satellite images and ground surveys has found evidence of the presence of "huge architectural wealth" buried in the Mahabodhi temple complex and its surroundings in Bihar’s Bodh Gaya, officials said on July 13.

The study has been carried out by the Bihar Heritage Development Society (BHDS), a wing of the Art, Culture and Youth Department, in collaboration with the Cardiff University of the United Kingdom.

The Mahabodhi temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is one of the four holy areas related to the life of Lord Gautam Buddha.

Bodh Gaya is a place where Lord Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment.

“The study has unearthed evidence of the presence of archaeological treasure beneath the soil of the UNESCO World Heritage site and its surrounding areas…It’s a huge architectural wealth that needs further excavation," the Art, Culture and Youth Department's Additional Chief Secretary Harjot Kaur Bamhrah told PTI.

The U.K.-based varsity and the BHDS are cooperating in the project, 'Archaeology on the footsteps of the Chinese traveller Xuanzang'.

Bengaluru-based National Institute of Advanced Studies faculty member M.B. Rajni, one of the project members, studied satellite images of the Mahabodhi temple and its surroundings and tried to correlate the findings with the description of 'Xuanzang’, she said.