Buddhism in Andhra Pradesh

c


 
 The influence of Buddhism is subtle but deep-rooted in the land of Andhra. Dating to the preChristian era, Andhra Pradesh has some of the most fascinating archaeological monuments that tell the story of Buddhism in the region and the legacy it left behind. As Buddhist monks walked the countryside, their chants reverberated in the air, the people of Andhra woke to the clanging of cymbals and the prayers of these monks. They grew around them a sensitive and enduring culture. Even today their influence remains. The links with the past can be seen in the monuments in a magnificent state of ruination while the more lasting influence can be felt in the softness and gentle nature of the people of Andhra. Andhra Pradesh is known to the present generation as the land of the ancient sites of Buddhist learning. Even as you read about the ruins of Nagarjunakonda or Amaravati, let alone visit them, the question that comes naturally to mind is Ȃ when did Buddhism come to Andhra? History is not so kind as to just hand over a date and say, DzNow you know when.dz Instead it tells us many stories spread across centuries in time. In the pre-Christian ear, there seems to have been a lot of communication between the people across the length and breadth of the sub continent. No, there were no satellites or indigenous versions of them. They were people who traveled back and forth with messages. The means of travel were varied. Andhra was famous for some of the greatest ports and through the waters the culture of Andhra influenced the civilization of Burma, Malaysia and Indo-China. Within the country, caravans of people Ȃ merchants, traders and religious preachers used to travel by road with musicians, astrologers, artistsǥaccompanied by lots of other people. They were the ones who carried cultural values, thoughts and symbolism from one area to another creating the indomitable Indianness that defines Indians even today. Andhra Pradesh was situated at a very central place in terms of the routes the caravans took. At a place called Vengi, five such routes converged. Itǯs importance was recognized very early in history and later Andhra kings even set up their capital at Vengi. In fact, Andhra Pradesh itself was often known as Vengi and the Andhra kings as Vengi kings. The road to Kalinga, led to the north-eastern part of India. The road to Dravida or the south was different from the road to the south-west, which led to Karnataka. Similarly there were two paths, one leading to the north (to the city of Kosala) and the other to the north-west, that is the modern day state of Maharashtra. It was along these paths that Buddhist monks traveled and brought with them ideas and influences just as they took back bits of Andhra culture. Interestingly the famous Buddhist sites of Andhra Pradesh are all found along these routes. Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati lie on the south-western road to Karnataka while Ghantasala lies along the road to the south. To enumerate all the Buddhist sites in the land of Andhra would be to fill pages and pages of just names. There are a large number of Buddhist monuments like |
| |   |are both monasteries and temples where an assembly of monks and nuns takes place. In becoming a religion, Buddhism followed and adopted much from various beliefs of the time. Its simple rituals were based on the cult of  |or sacred spots. These were often groves of trees or a single sacred tree on the outskirts of a village which was the abode of earth-spirits. They may or may not include a stupa which is a mound that contains relics of locally revered monks and ascetics. Gradually it has come to house other holy objects like statues. Most of these monuments were constructed near

water points and so today we can locate them along the banks of River Krishna. These are the earliest historical monuments of Andhra. Most of them date to the Ashokan period, 4th Ȃ 3rd century B.C. This does not mean that Buddhism came to Andhra only with or after Emperor Ashoka. When Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism he spread the message of the religion as far and wide in the country as possible. There is, however, doubt whether Buddha Himself visited Andhra Pradesh. But there is mention of the land in early Buddhist literature and stories like the laws of Baudhayana and so, historians are as sure as reconstruction can be, the Buddhism came to Andhra almost as soon as it was born. Many of the stupas that remain in Andhra are those that were erected by Emperor Ashoka. It is said that the emperor sent special missions to erect stups all over the country. In the most ancient of monuments, at Bhattiprolu, may be seen inscriptions of a southern variation of the Ashokan Brahmi alphabet, the parent of the later Andhra script. This is, in fact, the first evidence of the language of Telugu. At that time, scholars say, it had many Prakrit words, gradually it came to incorporate many Sanskrit words and adopt the present day script known as the Vengi-Chalukya script. There is a school of thought which says that because Andhra was exposed to so many varying influences early in its history, the people learnt to absorb words from other languages and enrich their own. Words from Pali, Sanskrit, Greek are some examples. Telugu language has probably the largest number of alphabets: 56! The end of the Ashokan period came with the beginning of the rule of a dynasty called the Satavahanas. The Satavahanas ruled from 225 B.C. to 225 A.D. Their rule is famous for their patronage of the arts. Into the period was packed tremendous growth of Buddhism and Buddhist art in the region. The influence of Buddhism is not always so easily discernible. It mingles so well with the local culture that the Buddhist elements are often not separable. The art of toy making, for instance, which flourishes in Andhra, could well have been influenced by the bright woodwork patronized by the Buddhist. In literature, one finds many works influenced by Buddhism. The great Buddhist saint Nagarjuna himself has contributed a corpus. The influence of Buddhism was deep rooted and subtle. Here is an example of how it has influenced the writers of Andhra. During the National Movement and the struggle for a separate province for Andhra many poets awoke to the call of their state and motherland and wrote some good poetry. One pair were called Pingali and Kasturi. These poets saw in Mahatma Gandhi a likeness to Buddha. Their poems, therefore, centered on the spirit of patriotism but with Buddha or his disciples as the heroes! In architecture, there are scholars who say it is the pattern of the  | and the  | that has formed the basis of South Indian temple architecture. Whether this can be taken as the whole truth or not, an influence cannot be ruled out. In fact there is no chasm between Buddhist and Hindu art and so tradition continued Ȃ one weaving into another. The Satavahana period is significant for its contribution to the history of art. The earliest historical paintings in India, that can still be viewed, belong to this period. Some of the most glorious Buddhist caves were excavated out of living rock along the north-western route from Vengi. Paintings closely resembling the ones at Amaravati are found in the famous Ajanta caves. These paintings are concentrated in caves 9 and 10. The art of paintings grew even when Buddhism had waned. A fascinating example of continuity in tradition can be seen in the adaptation of rock cut structures for Hindu temples. In and around Bezawada a number of rock cut temples may be seen housing Hindu gods.

All the earlier culture of the Deccan came into a definite shape under Buddhist stimulus out of which emerged the new Brahminical culture of the post-Satavahana period. The third century A.D. was thus culmination of one epoch and the beginning of another political and cultural history. The waning of Buddhist culture was gradual, so much so that in the 7th century A.D. when Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang visited India, he counted 50 monasteries and 4500 monks in the area. He also noted that simultaneously there were other regions where Jainism and Brahminical order had replaced Buddhism Nagarjunakonda means Nagarjuna Hill in Telugu, the language used in much of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in present day Guntur district as an island, after it was indundated in 1960, to make way for an irrigation project of modern India, Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. It is so named after a southern Indian philosopher Nagarjuna, of 2nd century AD, who is credited with the spread of Mahayana Buddhism in south India as well as up north to Tibet and onwards. It was once an important Buddhist learning and education site, that attracted Buddhist scholars from Sri Lanka, Burma, China, Bengal and Gandhara for higher studies in Buddhist disciplines and Buddhist thought. Before its flooding by Andhra government in 1960, about 100 specialist archaeologists were sent in for excavations alongwith 1000 labour to excavate whatever remnants and archeological evidence they could find for future generations of Buddhist students and studies. Today it is an example of the        
    

     


 c  
 
        c

  
      
    

 
.

c  !!" The Buddha taught dhamma to end suffering which is caused because of Greed, Hatred and Delusion. This dhamma He explained in terms of Morality, Concentration and Wisdom with its secular flavor, non-sectarian ingredients and Universal appeal. Therefore throughout history many statues of Buddha were made to express gratitude to the world teacher-Buddha. Keeping in line with this tradition a huge Buddha statue has been installed in the capital city of Andhra Pradesh. This is world's largest monolithic Buddha statue weighing 350tons, 17meters in height, standing on a lotus pedestal, installed on the rock of Gibraltar, in the middle of lake Hussain Sagar, Hyderabad in India. Referring to images, the great philosopher Count Kaiserling writes: "I know nothing more grand in this world than the figure of the Buddha. It is the perfect embodiment of spirituality in the visible domain". Verily true is this case too. In the history of Buddhism, Andhra then a maritime power took leading role in the spread of Buddhism to far east. Sri lanka and Andhradesa had close links with each other from ancient times as Dantavamsa and Attakathas testify. In the 14th century, Dharmakeerti, a leading sinhalese thera, affected repairs at the vihara in Nagarjunakonda. About the same time the sinhalese general Senalankadhikara was carrying out renovations to a vihara in

kanchipura. These are last records of active Buddhism not only in Andhra but also in the entire south of India. Andhra culture had its influence on Ceylon Buddhism. Chiefly in arts, sculpture and architecture. The third counsel which was held during the reign of Ashoka under guidance of Mogalliputa Tissa, delegates of as many as six sects from Andhra i.e. chaityaka, purvasaila, aparasila, uttarsila, rajagirika, siddarthika all described as Andhakas participated. From now on Andhra played a pivotal role in the history of this religion. After the decline of Magdha Empire, two powerful empires have emerged, Andhra Satavahanas in the Deccan and Kushanas in the Northwest. Andhra was home of Mahayana. From here it spread to other parts of Asia. A rare genius in the history of philosophy and profounder of Madhyamika or Sunyavada philosophy, Nagarjuna is credited with laying firm foundations for Mahayana. A galaxy of brilliant intellects, Aryadeva, elucidator of Madyamika philosophy, Buddhapalita, exponent of Prasangika school of Madhyamikavada, Bhavaviveka, head of the Svatantrika school, Dinnaga, father of Buddhist logic, Dharmakeerti, logician and epistemologist of distinction, have appeared in the subsequent three centuries in Andhra enriching Buddhist religion, philosophy, logic and related subjects. Budddhagosha, a revered name in Theravada tradition, was born in 4th century A.D. in palanad area of Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. He wrote a treatise on tripitaka called "VISSUDHIMAGGA", which is his masterpiece on Theravada tradition. Andhra Pradesh has 140 listed Buddhist sites, which provide a panoramic view of the history of Buddhism from 3rd century B.C. to 14th century A.D. The list of inscriptions engraved on various media, lithic, copper plates, crystals, pots, conches are 501(360 lithic records, 7 sets of copper plates, 134 inscribed pots and conches etc.) in number. Some of the famous Buddhist sites in Andhra are Nagarjunakonda, Amaravati and Bavikonda. It is Buddhism that encouraged people to transform the prevailing ideas and ideals into a definite and concretized shape, especially the form of art and architecture, philosophy and literature. Historical role of Buddhism in Andhra was to incline local people given to animistic beliefs into an organized religion and launch them on the road of civilization. The cosmopolitan spirit of Buddhism helped to remove the tribal barriers, integrated the people and gave them a cultural identity paving way for the rise of Andhras as an imperial power under the satavahana rule. It also gave a stimulus to the creative genius of the people resulting in the sculptural exuberance of the stupas at Amaravati and

Nagarjunakonda and scores of other Buddhist sites in the state. Fourteen Buddha relic caskets have been so far recovered from the sites of Andhra, the largest number for any state in India. According to sutta nipata identified as one of the older parts of Tripitakas, Buddhism came to Assaka country (modern Nizamabad district of Andhra) during the lifetime of the Tathagata himself. An ascetic by name Bavari set up ashram on the banks of river Godavari and pursued religious life. Having come to know that a Buddha had arisen in the north, he sent his disciples to meet him and engage him in a spiritual dialogue. The dialogue of the disciples of Bavari with Buddha at Vaishali is recorded in sutta nipata, which also says that the Bavari's disciples having heard the dhamma from Tathagata himself converted to Buddhism, and took dhamma to the Telugu country, Andhradesa. Buddhism in Andhra flourished for over 2000 years as one of the important religions, right from 5th century B.C. to 14th century A.D. as confirmed by literary, epigraphical and archaeological accounts. Buddhism through Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana phases flourished for longer duration. Though various reasons are given for the decline of Buddhism in the state, it is obvious that Vajrayana form of Buddhism, which borrowed heavily from the Indian tantric tradition, substituted meaningless rituals to the religious activity that can confer mystical power on the practitioners. A body of literature called Dharanis was devised to propitiate the vajrayana goddesses. The Buddhists, by this point of time, having lost all intellectual vitality resorted to tantric worship in the hope of acquiring mystical powers. Thus narrowing down the essential difference between Hinduism and Buddhism, especially the difference between tantrism, vishnuism and Buddhism. Note worthy is the belief in the theory of incarnation describing the Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu, originally created in the Vishnu Purana which was written later after Buddha around seventh century and was repeated in the other Puranas. According to this story in the Vishnu Purana, the Buddha was not the incarnation of the good qualities of Vishnu but of his unwholesome qualities such as ignorance and delusion. The only aim of this incarnation was to turn the followers of the Vedas against the Vedas and prevent them from going to heaven so that the reign of Indra and the other gods in heaven could be secure. This narrative censures not only the Buddha but also his teachings. Another belief that Kalki, the tenth incarnation of Vishnu will completely destroy all Buddhists is even more offensive and misleading. Thus these false

stories created confusion and made a negative impact on the believers of Buddha. Apart from this the secondary mythological gods that were introduced in the temple under the pretext of protecting deities later became the primary gods of the temple and the Buddha's image finally disappeared never to be found again. There was one more false propaganda that the Buddha had nothing of his own to give to the world and that the source of his teachings is from the Vedic tradition. The truth is that Buddha was the leader of ã
 tradition. Instead of giving importance to prayers he gave importance to one's own strenuous efforts and exertions. He clearly said I am giver of the path of liberation. This difference between the Vedic tradition and Samana tradition gave people a easy alternative of depending on favors from some mythological gods to satisfy their greed and hatred rather than working themselves strenuously against greed, hatred and delusion which is unique to Buddha's teachings. Therefore the story in puranas proclaiming the Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu and other false stories made because of mutual hostility and enmity, proved to be fatal for Buddhism in general.

Though there was no great persecution of Buddhists by the ruling families of Andhradesa, at least two pallava rulers, Simhavarma and Trilochana were zealous in destroying the monasteries at Sriparvata and Dhanyakataka. Radical Saivaite sects like Kalamukhis initially and later, Veerashaivas conducted an aggressive campaign condemning Buddhists as atheists. Occupying Buddhists places, Shiva and Vishnu temples were built over Buddhists shrines. The aggressive and often violent campaign is exemplified by the conduct of the Veera Saiva proponent, Mallikarjuna Panditaradhya, who after losing a debate to Buddhist monk in the court of chandole conspired and got them, killed and destroyed their places of worship. Panditaradhya's aggressive campaign almost wiped out Buddhism, in the Andhra country. Earlier shankara who was known as Pracchana Buddha borrowed Madhyamaka metaphysics and logic and modeled his mathas on Buddhist monasteries. Kumarila and Shankara carried on virulent crusade against Buddhism. Of the 140 Buddhist sites identified in the state only a few have been excavated, the best known being Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda. There are

several equally important sites like chandavaram and Dantavaktruni kota (Dantapur of yore), which are yet to be excavated, and which may still hold treasures of information for us. Now in the land that once belonged to Buddha Dhamma, an effort is being made by Venerable K. Sangharakshita Mahathero and few dedicated people to revive Buddhist tradition and culture. A Buddhist Cultural Complex in the ethnic architectural style is already under construction at Secunderabad city to create the necessary facilities and ambience. Presently some of the monks from Ananda Buddha Vihara are being trained at the Bhikkhu Training Centre, Maharagama, under the able guidance of most Venerable Madihe Pannaseeha Mahanayaka Thero and Venerable Rahula Thero. The Ananda Buddha Vihara whole heartily expresses its gratitude and thanks to the Venerables and staff of Bhikkhu Training Centre for assisting in this noble deed. A public charitable trust by name Ananda Buddha Vihara Trust, had been founded with the object of reviving, preserving and propagating Buddhist tradition and culture and making available Buddhist literature in local language Telugu.

  c#! The beautiful Ananda Buddha Vihara Standing on the hill Mahendra is being built in the state of Andhra.

This is due to the effort of Bhante K. Sangharakshita & the practitioners of the technique of Vipassana as taught by kalyanamitra G. Satyanarayana. Here all are to practice Sila, Samadhi & Panya to cut the difficult snare of Mara & finally attain the bliss of Nirvana. The Hyderabad Vipassana International Meditation Centre, which was the first centre to organize a vipassana course in India in 1975, along with the state government of Andhra Pradesh celebrated its silver jubilee in the year 2000. Shri S.N.Goenka visited as the state guest of Andhra Pradesh on the request of the chief minister Mr. Chandrababu Naidu and a five public talk series was arranged explaining the importance of Vipassana in everyone's life. After the talk Mr. Chandrababu Naidu acknowledged the importance of moral principles in government administration and hence announced the issuing of order (G.O.Ms No 351, General Administration(AR&T.III) Department, dated 18th october, 2000) sanctioning special paid leave of 10 days to all government officials wishing to take part in Vipassana courses. Thus the 17meter tall, 350ton monolithic statue of Buddha rising above the placid waters of Hussain Sagar is but a humble tribute of the Andhra Country to the Tathagata to whose Dhamma they owe their spiritual and cultural advancement in the formative years of their history. In this world of fashion and passion Buddha stands for compassion and dispassion. In this world of industrialization and commercialization Buddha stands for humanization and spiritualization. In this world of diversity and complexity Buddha stands for unity and clarity. In this world of consumerism Buddha stands for contentmentism. This world with its attraction for customer oriented dhamma Buddha stands for truth oriented dhamma. In this world of conflict and poverty Buddha stands for peace and prosperity Statue of Liberty stands for freedom Statue of Buddha stands for virtue and wisdom.

MAY ALL GET ESTABLISHED IN VIRTUE AND WISDOM. Ven. Bhikkhu Vinayarakkhita Dhramayatana, Maharagama. SRI LANKA.