Sri Lanka Maha Bodhi Centre, Chennai

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The Sri Lanka Maha Bodhi Centre is a Sri Lankan establishment in Chennai. It is located in Egmore. It is run by the Sri Lanka Maha Bodhi Society and serves as a monument of friendship between Sri Lanka and India.

The Maha Bodhi Society of India

The headquarters of the Maha Bodhi Society is located at Colombo.^[1] The Maha Bodhi Society of India was founded by Anagarika Dharmapala in May 1891 under the objective of restoring the ancient Buddhist shrines at places such as Gaya and Sarnath. He founded the Society's first center at Bodh Gaya and in various other cities, including the one at Chennai, with the objective of providing shelter, assistance and guidance to the devotees who visit Buddha Gaya annually. The Chennai centre was established with the money borrowed from Sir Kent, in favour of the Maha Bodhi Society—Sri Lanka.^[2]

The Buddha temple

Sri Lanka Maha Bodhi Centre is located at Kenneth lane opposite to Egmore Railway Station. A small temple of Lord Buddha, named Buddha Vihar, is situated inside the building of the Maha Bodhi Society of India. It is the only Buddhist temple in Chennai. The temple has an 18-ft life-size idol of Lord Buddha in a standing posture (Abhya Mudra) in the main hall. The festival of "Vesak" is celebrated annually in the month of May and cultural programmes are held at the centre.^[3] The centre also has a free homeopathic clinic started by the then director of the Chennai Centre, Ven. Ellawala Nandisvara Nayaka Thera, who is also instrumental in building the temple.^[4]

On 14 May 2011, Maha Bodhi Nikethanaya, a lodging facility for Buddhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka, was inaugurated in the centre, as part of 2,600th Sri Sambuddhatva Jayanthi celebrations by the Sri Lanka Deputy High Commission in Chennai, which commemorates Buddha's enlightenment.^[5] The five-storeyed building was constructed at a cost of ₹ 65 million. The building has 32 rooms.^[1]

The centre is venerated as a popular temple of "Theravada" worship that is visited by about 120,000 to 150,000 people annually.^[2][6]

Attacks

In 1983, at the peak of the ethnic strife in Sri Lanka, a bomb was thrown into the premises by unknown persons.^[6]

On 24 January 2011, the centre was attacked by an unidentified group of about 10 to 15 persons at around 9:00 p.m. local time. It was thought to be retaliation against the alleged killing of two Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy off the Tamil Nadu coast in the past two weeks.^[7]

See also

• Mahabodhi Temple
• Buddhist pilgrimage

References

Places of worship in Chennai
Temples	Anantha Padmanabhaswami Temple Royapuram Angala Parameswari Temple Alamelumangapuram Anjaneya Temple Nanganallur Anjaneya Temple Bhaktavatsala Perumal Temple Luz Anjaneya Temple Apparswami Temple Ashtalakshmi Kovil Choolaimedu Angalamman Temple Anna Nagar Ayyappan Koil Muthialpet Bairagimadam Temple Chennakesava Perumal Temple Chennai Om Sri Skandhashramam Chintadri Pillaiyar Kovil Ekambareswarar Temple Ettampadai Temple ISKCON Temple Puri Jagannath Temple Kachchaleswarar Temple Kalikambal Temple Saidapet Kamakshi Amman Temple Kamaleswarar Temple Kandaswami Temple Kapaleeshwarar Temple Mylapore Karaneeswarar Temple Saidapet Karaneeswarar Temple Ayanavaram Kasi Viswanatha Temple Mambalam Kasi Viswanatha Temple Mambalam Kothandaramar Temple Nandambakkam Kothandaramaswami Temple Muthialpet Krishnaswami Temple Kumaran Kundram Kurungaleeswarar Temple Madhya Kailash Madras Kali Bari Mallikesvarar Temple Marundeeswarar Temple Melatirupati Mylapore Mundaka Kanni Amman Temple Nandeeswarar Temple Neelagandeeswarar Temple Parasuramalingeswarar Temple Thiruvallikeni Parthasarathy Temple Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal Temple R.A. Puram Ayyappan Koil Ravishwarar Temple Sethu Kshetram Mylapore Shirdi Sai Baba Temple T. Nagar Sri Balaji Temple Thiruneermalai Kaalabairavar Temple Thiruvalluvar Temple Thyagaraja Temple Tiruvalithayam Vadapalani Andavar Temple Varasiddhi Vinayaka Temple Velleeswarar Temple Velveeswarar Temple Vengeeswarar Temple
Churches	Santhome Basilica Armenian Church Church of Our Lady of Light Descanco Church Queenship of Mary Church St Andrew's Church St. George's Cathedral St. Mary's Church Saint Patrick's Cathedral Saint Theresa Church St. Lazarus' Church St. Mark's Church St. Matthias' Church St.Mary's Co-Cathedral Wesley Church
Mosques	Thousand Lights Mosque Bahram Jung Mosque Casa Verona's Mosque Dharma Kidangu Mosque Hafiz Ahmad Khan Mosque Makkah Masjid Masjid Mamoor Masjid-o-Anwari Periamet Mosque Triplicane Labbai Jamaath Masjid
Buddhist temples	Sri Lanka Mahabodhi Centre
Gurudwaras	Sri Guru Nanak Sat Sangh Sabha Gurudwara
Parsi temples	Royapuram Fire Temple