Gaya, Nov. 7: The planting of the sacred Bodhi Tree sapling on the premises of Mahabodhi Society of India’s Bodhgaya branch yesterday has got mired in controversy.

The Mahabodhi Society of India, Bodhgaya branch, had imported the sapling to Bodhgaya from Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka in February this year for planting it on the campus of the world heritage Mahabodhi Mahavihara.

After planting the sapling, Bodhgaya executive officer Sushil Kumar Mishra had sent a letter yesterday to the Mahabodhi Society of India, Bodhgaya branch monk-in-charge Bhante H. Vimaldhamma Ther. Through the letter, the executive officer had asked: “Is there any permission to plant the sapling on the campus of Mahabodhi Society of India.”

In his reply, Ther today said: “The sapling was imported to India from Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka by the permission of Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee in February. The sapling had to be planted on the Mahavihara campus. However, because of certain reasons, the sapling could not be planted. Now, keeping in view the faith of devotees, the sapling has been planted on the campus of Mahabodhi Society of India, Bodhgaya branch.”

Raising objections to the earlier effort of planting the Bodhi sapling on the premises of Mahavihara, the state home department in February had sent a letter to the Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee that the sapling should not even be planted anywhere around Bodhgaya.

The home department initiated the step following the objection raised by former secretary of the temple management committee, Kalicharan Singh Yadav, who asked when a Bodhi tree is available for veneration on the Mahavihara campus, what is the necessity of planting another sapling? “It would create confusion and chaos among devotees,” he said.

The temple management committee member secretary Nangzey Dorjee said the importance of the existing Bodhi Tree on the Mahavihara campus would never be overshadowed. He, however, added that the Mahabodhi Society should have informed in advance that the sapling imported to Bodhgaya in February was to be planted on Sunday.

The peepal tree sapling belongs to the same generation of holy Bodhi Tree on the Mahabodhi Mahavihara campus under which Prince Siddhartha had attained enlightenment around 2,600 years back and became Buddha. Earlier, Emperor Ashoka had exported the sapling of Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya to Sri Lanka with son Mahindra and daughter Sanghamitra to spread Buddhism. The sapling was planted at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka and now it has grown into a big tree.

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka D.M. Jayaratne, accompanied by a 150-member delegation, had to visit Bodhgaya in February to plant the sapling on the Mahavihara campus. However, the sapling was not planted on the Mahavihara, as the state home department did not allow it in view of the objection raised by former temple management committee secretary.