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Buchanan mentions about the Mahant “This person in the course of his penitent wanderings came to this place, then overrun with wood and bushes, and finding the temple a convenient shelter, took up his abode in it, until his extraordinary sanctity attracted the notice of numerous pilgrims and he became a principal object of veneration among the powerful chiefs and wealthy merchants who occasionally frequented Gya. From these he received the various endowments which his successors enjoy.”
The math later also received a royal grant during the time of the later Mughal rulers. Many of the older statues of the Buddha and other deities which were lying deserted in the ruins were placed within the math. The Math gradually gained prominence, and the site again started witnessing the flow of pilgrims. But at this juncture of history, the visiting pilgrims had no idea about the earlier history of the place. They had no idea of why the place was called Bodh Gaya, and what role or association did it have with the Buddha. The Mahabodhi Temple premises existed in a ruined state within the Math, totally neglected.
The flow of time continued and at a new stage of history of India, the British arrived and gradually took over the polity of the country. The early Britishers who had no knowledge of the earlier history of India, started traversing the lengths and breadths of the country. A survey of all that remained as a witness of India’s lost past was begun. After the advent of the British in India, there was scope for re-discovery of India’s lost heritage. At Bodh Gaya, looking at the statues of the Buddha around and the ruins, many were bewildered. After all, it was not clear as to why were they lying there. The Buddha was familiar to the Britishers from their experience in Burma and other lands as a living light of the Asian peoples outside India. Buddhism was still established as a living religion in the lands outside India, like Tibet, Thailand, Burma and others.