Scandal gnaws at Buddha's holy tree in India

By Simon Denyer

BODH GAYA, India (Reuters) - Tales of corruption, looting and religious rivalry are swirling around the spot where Buddha is said to have gained enlightenment in eastern India some 2,500 years ago, sullying one of Buddhism's holiest sites.

Buddhist scriptures describe it as the "Navel of the Earth", and 100,000 pilgrims and tourists visit every year, packing the town of Bodh Gaya in Bihar state and its Mahabodhi Temple.

An ancient pipal tree, Ficus religiosa or sacred fig, grows at the back of the temple, said to be a descendent of the one Buddha sat under for three days and nights in the sixth century BC, before finding the answers he sought under a full moon.

But with the tourists and pilgrims comes money, and with the money has come mounting charges of less than saintly behavior.

Priests and monks allege that thousands of dollars in temple donations have mysteriously vanished, that a thick branch of the ancient holy Bodhi tree was lopped off and sold in Thailand in 2006, and that ancient relics have disappeared.

Hindus also revere the site and it is a Hindu monk, Arup Brahmachari, who is leading a campaign to expose the wrongdoing.

"I am not fighting as a Hindu, I am fighting because I love God," he said. "Buddha was a son of God, and someone is misbehaving with his property."

Many Hindus accept Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu.

The temple land has been owned by a nearby Hindu monastery for centuries, and the temple is managed by a committee where Hindus retain a majority over Buddhists.

But representatives of both religions stand accused.

Charges have been brought against the powerful former secretary of the Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee, a Hindu, as well as the committee's former public relations officer and the former Buddhist chief priest of the temple.

A police report obtained by Reuters accuses the three men of "nefarious activities" and asks for their private wealth to be investigated.

Witnesses questioned by police said the priest had ordered an employee to cut off "substantial parts" of the tree and take them to his home. The trio were also accused of selling off fallen leaves to pilgrims and pocketing the proceeds.

Former temple secretary Kalicharan Yadav denies the allegations, saying the branch was removed in 1978 when the tree was pruned, and said the charges against him were political, trumped up only after his party lost power in Bihar.

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