That was what Prince Siddhartha, the Bodhisattva, now the Buddha said soon after He attained Enlightenment. These first words disparaged the builder (samsara) and its building material - greed, avarice, craving, ignorance, egotism and other defilements.

But what we saw in Bodhgaya on 12th September was busy building. The builder here was no less a person than Sirisena Cooray. A bustle of pairs of men shouldering tall shiny stylized columns to the precincts of the Holy Tree drew our attention. Wondering what it was all about, I asked around and no one knew. They too were bemused. So when Mr Cooray took time off from his supervision and descended to sit by the side of the enclosure I went to him and asked him what was being done. "We are replacing some of the columns of the ran veta put up by our late President. You know, some have been damaged" – this last said with innuendo against some unmentioned damager. I saw only the effects of nature on cheap columns supposed to be ran veta columns or gold posts. We expected them to have at least been gilded. But no, they have a dull cheap brass look, so obviously no gold was used.

And on the 12th they were being interspaced with silver-hued columns. A travesty to me. How wonderful if the Bodhiya was left in its natural majesty, its trunk so broad; its spreading branches low and leaved. The ‘ran viyana’ installed by President Premadasa is equally pathetic – a dilapidated, colour dimmed construction, more a sorry sight than adornment. This most sacred Bo Tree needs no embellishment. Left as a free growing tree it would inspire even greater veneration than it does now. A protective wall has been built round and you cannot go in to touch the trunk or the exposed roots, as before. Terrorism put paid to that; misguided piety to the natural wonder of the Tree. The first is excusable being essential in this day and age, the latter unforgivable, at least to me.

Bodhgaya has been a hive of commercialism from very early on. But commerce has been out-bounded and the precincts of the Tree kept clean. There were hundreds present in groups: a large number of Hindus engaged in a special pooja to gain merit for their ancestors, many more, and 300 white clad pilgrims from Sri Lanka, among whom were smaller groups. All these were quiet. Pollution of buying and selling, of dirt and garbage cast aside by careless pilgrims have been greatly reduced. Not so sound pollution. For well over two hours a nun of the 300 strong group chanted stanzas over a mike, most definitely encroaching into the sanctity of the place, intruding into determined efforts to be reflective, disturbing the desire to give gratitude to the Tree in silent veneration. The Buddha spent seven weeks after He realized the Truth; alone, in peaceful reflection. He said:

Not so the modern day adherent of the religion He bequeathed the world. The greatest is to parrot His words so loud they lose all meaning. I was in sil, I desired peace and quiet, but no - a yellow clad nun had been given a mike and she chanted continuously. We don’t know how long, since we left as the sun sank and a sliver of the new moon appeared. She could so easily have done her chanting and pleased the pilgrims in the place they were staying that night or even in the bus or train they traveled in. No, she had to do it in public, shattering the serenity and sanctity of this most sacred site.

Some of our party had gone to the temple, offered atapirikara and requested a monk to give us pansil. The chief monk was very busy preparing to come over to Colombo the next day. He promised to send a monk. None appeared. An Indian monk was then almost conscripted to give us the five precepts. Giggles rose in the throat as a member of our group had to prompt him his lines!! He graciously apologized by saying he was very new in his robes. We were glad to give him some poojas, dollars included.

Why do we Buddhists pay so much attention to the outer trappings of religion: the rites and rituals which the Buddha never mentioned, leave alone encouraged. The only manifestation called for of our faith is abiding by his teaching, attempting to at least. For instance I can never understand the offering of robes to the Sacred Tree; not even the covering of the reclining Buddha statue at Kusinara with silk robes. This reverence-inspiring and emotion-arousing statue needs to be reflected upon, the swollen feet appreciated, the journeying on foot remembered; His words to the Sangha of 61 Arahants at the Deer Park in Isipatna recollected: "Bhikkhus, I am free from all shackles whether human or divine. You too are free from … Go now and wander for the welfare and happiness of many, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, welfare and happiness of gods and men. Teach the Dhamma that is good in the beginning, good in the middle and good in the end, with the meaning and the letter."

But no, we forget the meaning and the letter of what He taught and spend much money buying expensive silk robes and with much ado we spread the robe and place it over the statue. I do hope no one desires merit, wishes good for themselves and their loved ones when the robe is thus offered. Of course one must here accept the fact of ‘to each his/her own; venerate as one wishes to.’ Gratitude to the Buddha, to our parents and children, those who made it possible for us to be able to undertake the pilgrimage, those who facilitated it, and even ourselves is what we should feel, while tears stain our eyes, not of sorrow but of joy that such a human being gave us a religion and a way of life – good all round and to be accepted only after careful consideration.

We managed to make it on time to listen at 7.00 in the evening to the chanting of the first sermon of the Buddha.

"Then wandering by stages, the Blessed One came at length to Benares, to the Deer Park at Isipatana, where the bhikkhus of the group of five were… He preached, setting Rolling the Wheel of the Dhamma."

The hall was full of pilgrims but the monks managed well the giving to each pirit nool, plus pirit pan and writing receipts for donations. The talk by the senior monk present was short, concisely mentioning the significance of Sarnath and of course the immense service rendered by Anagarika Dharmapala.

Elsewhere we were somewhat disappointed by the Sangha. One monk was too busy to give us a blessing since he got a call on his cell phone and launched on a long conversation. In Lumbini we found a monk who, very unfortunately, did not inspire veneration nor confidence. He knew the history of the place but his recitation was mechanical, devoid of enthusiasm and inspiration. He was glad to accept our offerings though.

I remember from a previous trip the monk at Sravasti who conducted us to the Ananda Bodhiya, explained how the Buddha spent most vas seasons at this wonderful place, and how the Bo Tree, named the Ananda Bodhiya, came to be planted. He was so ascetic and full of metta. He however, gently reprimanded me that evening. I said that if one were to come over and stay in Sravasti, one could really meditate. He said there was accommodation available and then the quiet aside: "Sri Lankans say this but hardly ever come. It is the foreigners who benefit most. They don’t talk, they do." On enquiring this time around, I was told he is now in Kandy. That is a monk who needs to be visited and venerated since he saw to the construction of the temple at Sravasti. He was a true follower of the Buddha.

I wondered how that prolonged, loud speakered chanting at Bodhgaya was permitted and possible. Is it the Mahabodhi Society that controls the place or the monks of the Sri Lankan temple? Maybe jointly with monks of other Asian countries. I am neither biased nor too critical when I say that the veneration by Buddhists of other countries is much more subdued in sound, deeper in religious feeling and covered less with the outer trappings of piety.

Brand me anti-national? You may if you wish to.