Historical Controversies Opinions can differ, Fact's cannot! Unravelling the mystery: Is Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, previously a Lord Buddha shrine?? November 21,2015. Uncategorized 11 Are Ayyappa and Buddha same, Are Saastha and Buddha same, pa and Buddha, Ayyappan and Buddhan, Buddha temple in Sabarimala, Hindus destroy Buddha temples, Is Sabarimala Buddha temple, Kerala Buddhism, Saastha and Buddha, A Critic Vision With the passage of every tick, do the recollection of an event, angles away from the real event! Our experience nods affirmative, unless the narrator is undisputedly objective. Grab any story from the history and check for its versions. Lucky enough, you may get more number of versions than Windows has! Though the differences in the stories may be flimsy. Each recorder, narrator, observer, writer understands the historical event and while painting it on a new canvas, his imagination and knowledge add extra colours to the event. The whole point is, History is always dappled with the imagination of its chronicler. Well, to some extend it adds fragrance to a beauty. As years go by, new interpreters of the archives come in, researchers come in, and the facts become more and more mythical. And we name it as a mythical history! This is natural and is acceptable within some degree of dilution limits, On the contrary, some historians deliberately makes attempts to alter the history and paint it with no real colour of the event. They do this heinous act for reasons may be money, power and or to propagate new theories to prove some ideals they believe in. History sprouts to a toxic tree of falsehood, at the hands of such malignant writers. Aryan Invasion theory can be quoted as the best example which is refuted now, thanks to modern day researchers and historians.Claiming lord Ayyappa temple of Sabarimala to be a Lord Buddha shrine is another example of a theory distorting history. Keeping aside all the preconceived ideas, let us make a thorough study on this profess and its veracity. Assuming the reader already has a prior hand information about Sabarimala, the strict 41 days austerities followed by the pilgrimage before visiting the presiding, deity lord Ayyappa, the dark blue and black dress codes pilgrims wear while undertaking the holy climb, the historical mythical stories connected with birth of lord Ayyappa and any other relevant details associated with the temple, we shalll directly stoop over to the claims of the alternative history version. These so called alternate historians put forward the interesting theory that Sabarimala temple was initially a Buddhist shrine which was later converted to a Hindu temple and lord Ayyappa was actually lord Buddha who was assimilated into the innumerable pantheon of Hindu Gods. They base their arguments on many questions seemingly sensible, but curiously dubious. What are those questions? Starting with the name, the word Ayyappa also famous as “Saastha” is a synonym of the word “Buddha” as it appear in ‘Amarakosam’ and hence the temple would have been of Buddha’. Dr. Kunjan Pillai in Travancore Census Report (1931, page: 334) says “’Saastha’ the name often given to Buddha in Buddhist scriptures was admitted to Hindu pantheon; the famous Saastha temples now existing at Sabarimalam, Takali and other places in Travancore were originally none other than temples dedicated to Buddha”. The 41 days austerities followed by the pilgrims before visiting Sabarimala are in fact very strict which includes abstinence from worldly pleasures, renunciation of luxurious meals and attractive dresses etc., which is proclaimed as the features of Buddhist worship rather than the Hindu mode of worship. Another aspect of Sabarimala pilgrimage is the constant chanting of “Sharanam” which literally means seeking ‘refuge’. Those who visited Sabarimala would have definitely seen these pilgrims in millions flocking up the mountains constantly chanting “Swami Sharanam" and “Ayyappa Sharanam” Is this not similar to the sharanam call of the Buddhist type like- “Buddham Sharanam Gachhamti Dharmam Sharanam Gacchami Sangham Sharanam Gacchami” Amusing enough, some even state that Buddhists prefer to live and worship in secluded places and hence a temple inside the thick wild forests, on the top of a mountain, can only be a Buddhist shrine. There was no caste discrimination in Sabarimala temple when the whole of our Nation was about to be swallowed by the monstrous caste evils and since Buddhist displayed no caste distinction unlike Hindus, this could possibly be a Buddhist temple, is another toss? Does our face lit up with an impish glee, when we learn the next argument that Sabarimala Ayyappa is a deity who is in sitting posture akin to Lord Buddha who is also always depicted in a sitting posture and so they both are same! During the pilgrimage and the preparatory phases, the pilgrims address each other with the name “Swami” which denotes respect and equality and this kind of equal vision was one of the principal theory of Buddhism and hence the temple is a Buddhist one. Again some believe that the famous Chinese traveller Huan Tsang has mentioned in his narratives that Sabarimala is a Buddhist temple.Huan Tsang Lord Ayyappa holds his hands in a particular Mudra (symbolic gesture) where the index finger of the hand is kept joined with the thumb, leaving the other three fingers free. This symbolizes the steadfast aim of the devotee to achieve nirvana, by taking refuge in the three jewels (Triratnas), Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, the fundamental commitments of a Buddhist. So it’s a Buddha idol! As thrusting a last nail to the box fempty one) they state that Kerala was a Buddhist centre during the period from 6" century to 10" century C.E and thus Sabarimala would definitely be a temple built by Kerala Buddhists which was later converted by Hindus renaming Buddha as Saastha or Ayyappa. Quite Interesting! Now itis for us to dive deep and bag the facts before we haste into an alternate view, however amazing it may appear. 1) Starting with the assertion on name similarity, let us check what are the synonyms of word Buddha from Amarakosa itself - Sarvajna, Sugata, Dharmaraja, Thatagatha, Samantha bhadra, Bhagavan, Marajit, Lokajit, Jina, Sadabhijna, Dasabala, Advayavadi, Vinayaka, munindra, Srighna, Sasta, Muni, Sakya, Sakya Simha, Sarvarthasiddha, Sauddhodhani Gauthama, Arkabandhu, Mayadevisuta. These many words come as the synonym of the word Buddha. Indeed ‘Saastha’ is a synonym but that doesnt mean Saastha and Buddha are one and the same. In that case, another synonym is ‘Vinayaka’ and we never say Buddha and ‘Vinayaka’ are same.Swami Ayyappa ‘The word Saastha comes from ‘Sas’ dhatu which means “Sashyathi” or to command. Refers to a person who commands, rules or teaches. The word Buddha in expanded form is “Yo Buddhavaan Sadaiva Njaathasthi sa Buddho Jagadeeshwaraha:” is the one who knows everything at all times, or the God almighty. So even though both these words can be used as synonyms, they signify two different aspects. To ensure more clarity, with a lighter note, shall we check a similar examples with a Malayalam word “Aaana” which means Elephant. A synonym for elephant in Malayalam is “Kari”. However ‘Kari’ actually means black charcoal So though ‘Aand’ and ‘kari’ are synonyms, both are totally different in their meanings and representations. So the name similarity do not ring any bell at all, of similarity of the two deities! 2) The strict austerities, renunciation and abstinence followed which could be of Buddhist origin. Very wrong! If the propagators of this theory would at least have read the story of Gauthama Buddha! Lord Buddha in search of the truth undertake different kinds of austerities and strict disciplines in his life which itself is a proof that this did exist prior to the spread of Buddhism. The practices resemble more closely to the Yama Niyamas of the Ashtanga Yoga Darsanam.Sage Patanjali- founder of Ashtanga Yoga Ashtanga Yoga is one of the famous philosophical treatise (view) practiced even today across the world. As the name suggests it has ‘Ashta’ — eight , ‘Anga’ - limbs which are very essential. The path ultimately leads man to divinity but in order he has to attain mastery over the 8 parts of this philosophical exposition. The first two steps are ‘Yama’ and ‘Niyama’ which advocates the spiritual aspirant to follow certain things like following austerities, refraining from worldly pleasures etc. Ashtanga Yoga details (https://www.ashtanga.com/html/background.html) Not just Ashtanga Yoga, if you refer Hindu scriptures, you shall find countless Hindu Saints recommending the spiritual devotees to live a simple life renouncing worldly temptations and the whole objective of doing this is to keep the mind focussed on the inner self rather than on the much distractive outward things. Now we know from where the strict spiritual practices of the Sabarimala pilgrim would have come? 3) Sabarimala Pilgrims constantly chants “Sharanam’, the same word is a characteristic word of Buddhism.Pilgrims chanting sharanam and climbing Sabarimala hill Well, not really! The Editor of Journal of Indian History (Volume 18, page 117) says this expression of Sharanam is common in Hinduism too whenever someone appeal to God for his/her Grace. In his own words, “It is not so clearly established that the idea of seeking the protection of a saviour is an idea peculiar to the Buddhists or originated with the Buddha and the Buddhist teacher. No doubts the Buddhists have the notion of the ‘Trisaranam’ but that does not necessarily mean that that is the earliest of the first.” We can observe the usage of “Sharanam'” even as far back in Rig Veda which was written many a years before the time of Lord Buddha himself. “Indrathridhathu Sharanam’(6.46.9) Durga Sooktham starts with taking refuge in Durga and we could see that the word “Sharanam’ is used. “Thisro Devi: Swadhaya Barhiredhamachidhram panthu Sharanam nishadya” (2.3.8.) We could also see the usage of “Sharanam” in many other Puranic Scriptures too. So a more relevant question that we could pose to a curious self is whether the Sharanathrayam (Trisharana’s) of Buddhism, borrowed from the Hindu scriptures? 4) Buddhists preferred to live in secluded places. What do we then say about 100’s of Saastha shrines that exists even now amidst cities, towns and villages? Not to mention, forests were places of worship and meditation for several Hindu saints and Rishis as well. 5) There is/was no caste discrimination in Sabarimala temple; which only Buddhists promote! Also, pilgrims calling each other ‘swam’ in respect and equal vision.The basic philosophy of Hindus is to realize the divinity in oneself. Ultimately one would recognize himself with the whole of creation. So even when the caste systems that existed in the social life were very rigid, for a spiritual aspirant seeking the ultimate destination and meaning of life, there was divinity and divinity only , not just in fellow beings, but in all creations of this universe. So this was not an alien philosophy for Hindus to respect and address each other as divine (swami) and treat them without any caste bias. Keeping the blame of the Social system that existed through caste divisions in India, on the head of whole of Hinduism, is another major matter to debate which shall be discussed elsewhere. 6) Ayyappa and Buddha both are in sitting postures. Ayyappa in Sabarimala sits comfortably in a meditating yogic posture known as “Yogabhattaasanam’. There are other Hindu Gods who sit in the same yogic posture like Yoga Narasimhamoorthi, Yoga Dakshinamoorthy etc. Their pictures revealing the similarity of posture is given below: There are no reporting’s of any Buddha statue, where he sits in this particularly rare asana (posture), considering thousands and thousands of Buddha statues that were excavated and preserved from most Asian countries. Also, majority of sitting Buddha statues have the lord sitting in “Padmasana” or the lotus posture. ‘There are numerous images of Saastha in Travancore and nearby and we have not come across any Saastha image strictly conforming to the features of Buddha. (Selected essays: Raja Raja Varma, page 152) Most Buddha idols have the lord sitting in Padmasana Let us drill down one step further and check for the descriptions of lord Gauthama Buddha and Saastha as expounded by Buddhist and Hindu scriptures. Description of Saastha image is given in Amsumabhedagama, Suprabedhagama, Karanagama. None of these authorities match with that of Buddha. Neither does any Saastha images in Kerala conform to the features prescribed for Buddha. 7) The Mudra held by Ayyappa, Is Chinmudra. ‘Mudra is the way in which the hands are held. This is the mudra from Tantra which is famous for Wisdom of Adzaita (non duality) while the Yogabhattasana of Ayyappa denotes intense tapas. The first Guru of Hindus, Aadi Dakshniamoorthi is said to have preached his teachings of Vedanta philosophies through Chinmudra. Also while preaching the Bhagavat Gita, lord Krishna was believed to have held his hands in Jnana Mudra (Juana mudraya Krishnaya Gitamrita Duhe namah:— Dhyana sloka of B.G).A hindu monk meditating with his hands in Chinmudra 8) Chinese traveller Huan Tsang mentioned about this as a Buddha temple! The travel route of Huan Tsang pronounced originally as XuanZang in Chinese is available. — Travels trom China’ to andin india Trip home Kindly refer and yell in wonder how a person who never visited anywhere near Kerala would have given narrations on a temple that exists in Kerala. 9) Kerala was a Buddhist centre and thus this temple would have been built by Buddhas and was later converted by Hindus. Even now there are no traditions or legends associated with the stories of lord Buddha. None of the ancient Kerala records narrates about Buddhism, may be because Kerala was a state formed very late. Even the earliest works in Tamil, ‘Tolkappiyam’ and ‘Thirukkural’ do not refer to Buddhism. Earlyreference to Buddhism in texts come from “Silapadikaaram’ and Manimekalai’ in Tamil. There are Buddhist images excavated at Kiliroor and Nilamperoor etc and also vestiges in Tra \core. There are previous studies done into the spread of Buddhism in Kerala (Buddshim in Kerala: P.C. Alexander) which shows the below given map to show Buddhist centres in Kerala. ‘MAP OF TRAVANCORE Showing Plas Of Buddhinic lmportce Itis true that many parts of Kerala had Buddhist centres for many centuries even, but that doesn’t mean in any way that Buddha and Saastha are the same. At most, if the argument was like, the Buddhist traditions in Kerala influenced the Sabarimala temple or rituals, then, there would even be some space for a healthy discussion. Thus refuting these 9 questions posed by the alternate historians, let us ponder over some more irresistible probes. Keralolpathi says that Saastha was made as the guardians of the eastern slopes and was propitiated for the defence of the land from foreign invasions. How could a peace loving Guru like Buddha whose most important teaching is ‘Ahimsa’ or non violence, can be a defence commander?Saastha is a deity who take special interest in warfare. Yatrakkali, Chathirakkali, Sanghakkali, Panakkali are plays in Malabar to propitiate deities like Saastha and Durga. During Sharanam calls, Saastha is addressed as ‘Villaaliveeran”, Veeramanikandan” etc which extols the valour, courage and braveries of a dedicated soldier. Saastha was the presiding deity in most of village kalaries or fencing schools. Sodiers used to enter war only after formal puja to the war deities and chief of which was Saastha. These practices are there from ancient time. This is a strong disagreement to Saastha Buddha comparison. Saastha who took delight in warfare while Sakhyamuni who preached ahimsa are certainly not same. Saastha holding bow and arrow ‘The name Saastha comes in the creations of the devotional Shaiva poet “Appar” of Tamil Nadu, who lived in 7" century C. E. He addresses Saastha as “Hariharasuthan” (the son of Vishnu and Siva). Thirujnana Sambandhar also praises Saastha as the commander of Siva Ganas and as a brahmachari. Most importantly, we have not hit upon any archaeological evidences till date that reinforce this argument that Saastha and Buddha are one and the same. So all this investigation and exploration boils down to a single question. Why at all someone does wants to declare that Sabarimala temple was initially a lord Buddha temple?Somebody dreadfully wants to prove that lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala was initially a Buddha shrine and Hindus converted that to a Hindu temple, which is one amongst the huge number of Buddhist temples and places of worship destroyed and converted. This organized clumsy attempt of framing a wrong history and feeding it into the young minds, holds an umbrella to the multitude of atrocities done towards the Hindus. These historians would want one to think that ‘Oh if Hindus have destroyed Buddhist shrines, there is nothing wrong that Muslims destroyed Hindu temples over a period of time’ The letters exchanged between Sita Ram Goel, a well learned historian/scholar, and Romila Thapar, the leftist queen of false propaganda’s, unravels the hollowness of the falsification theories. A genuine researcher of history shall not miss it http://voiceofdharma.org/books/htemples2/ (hitp://voiceofdharma.org/books/htemples2/) A sincere reader of Indian spirituality wouldn’t need much of a time to fathom out, ours was the civilization which welcomed other foreign ideals and thoughts with an open heart. Ours was the spirituality which cast no dirty shadows on infidels or non believers. Ours was the culture which rejoiced in the happiness of our fellow beings. Ours was the philosophy which made us, make us chant for the welfare of the entire beings in the universe, every single day. Intentionally injecting false theories, is diabolical, call it Intellectual ‘Terrorism! Further reads: 1. Buddhism in Kerala - P.C. Alexander 2. Hindu Temples: What happened to them? Vol 11 — Chapter 4 — Sita Ram Goel 3. Article from magazine Kesari published on January 2015 (malayalam) 4. Blog (in Malayalam) : http://goo.gl(QmXfxcAdvertisements