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SUJATA KUTI

Crossing the Neranjana River bridge is an experience in itself. It is a narrow 'two lane' concrete low structure though getting through the entrance is the main obstacle. Here, within about fifty metres, are crammed motor mechanics, spilling out onto the road, fishmongers - hacking the heads of fat fish and the dicing them into chunks before weighing. The scrawniest chickens cooped in a wire cage, aware or not of the fate that awaits not three feet away. A basket of heads and feathers on the other side of the chopping block. Push trolleys on bike wheels laden with fruit or an assortment of namkeen line the sides of the road manoeuvring as need be for traffic. 

The traffic consists of buses, tractors with trolleys, cars, motor and push bikes as well as a lot of foot traffic. One narrow passage funnels all of this but is does make the walk across the bridge more peaceful, metering the flow. Stopping in the middle, to the left and the right eight games of cricket in action on the sandy bank. Growing along side is amla ( sour, bitter and astringent Indian gooseberry ) and a group of boys are shaking the trees vigorously encouraging the ripe green round fruit to abandon its' hold, to fall, be gathered and stuffed into pockets. 

Amongst all this life a cremation is occurring. The fire burns ferociously on the sand. The family, on sand rises, watching the departed become nought. The soul released from its' earthly bind. Goats roam freely munching the marigolds that were a wreath over the body on the journey to the river. 

On the other side it is much calmer. The noisy and busy pace of the main street, gone. This land opens into bright green fields growing rice, chilli, mustard seed and vegetables for as far as the eye sees. Small brick and mud hamlets lie close to the road and the rice is being threshed on a motorised thresher with the waste bundled to be used in cow dung patties and as feed for the cattle. 

Here, Sujata offered a skeletal Buddha milk-rice pudding ( kheer ). The Sujata Kuti - is the remnant of a Stupa originally made between the second and first centuries BC and later added onto during the eighth to tenth centuries AD. Evident now is an eleven metre high step construction of square baked bricks. Gold leaf had been applied recently to the bricks on the first rise. The mound of the Stupa has deteriorated and atop a Bodhi tree has grown. 

A simple memorial for the woman who provided a kindness that led Buddha to contemplate the austerities he had undertaken, and the cost, leading to the path of Enlightenment across the river in Uruwela ( to become Bodhgaya ) under the Mahabodhi Tree.

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JAPANESE TEMPLE

Each Buddhist based country has created a beautiful temple and Monastery not far from the Mahabodhi Temple. The closest is the Tibetan temple and the interior is elaborately decorated in rich green, blue and red. The Bhutanese has elaborate decoration on the exterior. The Japanese is a disciplined structure, a lesson in less is more. Outside the temple there is a bonsho, a huge bell. It is housed in its own open walled roof structure suspended across the beams with a well beneath. A hanging wooden beam is suspended on chains outside the this bell and strikes a lotus shape on the decorated bell. 

This 'Peace' bell is rung several items a day. The wooden beam is unlocked and pulled back some distance before it is released to strike once, taking some effort to halt the beam from hitting again before the tonal resonance has diminished. 

The first strike produces a clear sound, which then reverberates and echoes creating a low tonal resonance similar to Tibetan bells. It is a beautiful sound to hear and feel. The sound travels and when it has almost disappeared the beam is released and bell struck again. This happens five times and creates a mindful vibrational atmosphere. 

Other temples have a similar bells that start, each after the other, like bird song. 

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