Buddhism’s holiest site remained administratively controlled by Brahmins after independence

Evidence

Buddha Gaya or Bodh Gaya is the most sacred site in Buddhism, revered as the place where Buddha attained enlightenment. The temple complex has for long been controlled by Brahmin mahants (priests). The Bodhgaya Temple Act, passed two years after India’s independence, provides for a chairman and a committee of eight members, four Buddhist and four Hindu, “to manage and control the temple land and the properties appertaining thereto”. Section 3(3) of the Act provides that “the District Magistrate of Gaya shall be the ex-officio Chairman of the Committee: provided that the State Government shall nominate a Hindu as Chairman of the Committee for the period during which the district Magistrate of Gaya is non-Hindu”. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 1284

Categorization

• QUESTION: How did Brahmin mahants originally gain control of Bodh Gaya, and how did this affect Buddhist revival movements in India?
• XREF: Connects to Note 27 and Note 36 of Ambedkar’s own text on consuls and tribunes.