In 2002 the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Bodhgaya was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. As the alleged site of Buddha's enlightenment it is one of the most revered and sanctified places for Buddhists around the world. This international designation has also set in motion a series of development proposals and heritage policies that seek to rehabilitate and recreate this centre of world Buddhism that provides glimpses of the land of enlightenment as it used to be in the times of the Buddha. Central to these initiatives are plans on behalf of the Bihar state tourism department to promote Brand Buddhism and spiritual tourism through the establishment of an 18 hole golf course and five‐star hotels. These development proposals along with the recent UNESCO World Heritage designation have brought to the foreground the multiplicity of stakeholders in competition over the site's spiritual capital today. This paper will explore some of the contradictions and entanglements over Bodhgaya's present and uncertain future.
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David Geary (2008) studied this question.