A Short Histo ry of the Mahabodhi T emple in Bodhgaya Much of the history of Bodhgaya is known from its inscriptions, graffiti and to a lesser extent literary accounts of the many pilgrims who visited throughout the centuries. During the long reign of the Pala Kings of Bengal, the Mahabodhi Temple received lavish patronage, and most of the images and Stupas that can still be seen in and around the temple date from this period. Several inscriptions mention Pala Kings as having made gifts and endowments as did Kings from other parts of India. The beginning of the thirteenth century saw much of India in chaos due to the invasion by the Turkish Empire. Invading Muslim armies destroyed temples and defaced statues. There is no record of exactly how and when Bodhgaya was destroyed, but there are records that in the onslaught the Turks put to death innumerable monks and destroyed images and shrines. During the Turkish rule, the Mahabodhi temple fell into ruins due to deliberate destruction and neglect, and the visits of pilgrims became less and less frequent. All accounts of the temple prior to the B ritish restoration in 1880 indicate that it was an uncared for and neglected ruin, with the ground floor and second floor chambers collapsed. An accumulation of rubbish around the temple meant that the level of the ground had reached above the niches on the outer wall. In 1802, the Burmese sent a mission to Bodhgaya, and the British also became interested. Francis Hamilton's 1811 visit didn't yield a published report until 1836, however Alexander Cunningham was led to recommend excavations after his visit in 1861. The initial excavations were led by Major Mead, but no report was ever published and today the papers whereabouts are unknown. It was in 1880 that the Governor of Bengal appointed J.D. Beglar to restore the temple in conjunction with the Burmese. This restoration was based on earlier models of the temple found in the local area. Some say that this sadly destroyed much of the original nature of the temple by rebuilding the front pavilion a nd four corner towers and covering the arched doorway despite the physical evidence these existed at an earlier stage. The arches and corner towers have been a major source of controversy in the modern restoration. It is possible that the arches had already been covered when the temple received its last major ancient restoration in the Pala period. At that time, a third sandstone floor was laid, the inner throne was refaced and the tower was rebuilt and replastered. It seems most probable that the models of the temple (that formed the basis for the modern restoration) were made no earlier than this period. The most elaborate of these depicts a temple with a tall straight-sided tower surmounted by a large Stupa, and surrounded with four smaller corner towers of similar design. A large rectangular doorway provides entrance to the second story. Little evidence of the corner towers remained when restoration began in the 1800s. However, one photograph of the temple during clearance reveals a ribbed object near the south-east corner of the plinth, that might be the remains of a small Stupa.