https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Buddhism_amongst_TamilsBuddhism amongst Tamils - Revision history2026-07-31T18:33:33ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Buddhism_amongst_Tamils&diff=492460&oldid=prevDilKhus at 12:08, 17 March 20262026-03-17T12:08:36Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Aspect of Tamil history}}<br />
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[[File:Tamil nadu, buddha shakyamuni seduto in meditazione (dhyanamudra), dinastia chola, xii secolo ca, da nagapattinam.jpg|thumb|Buddha seated in lotus position, 11th century, Tamil Nadu.]]<br />
[[File:Tamil nadu, buddha con la mano sinistra nel gesto del dono (varadamudra), dinastia chola, XI-XII secolo.jpg|thumb|Buddha bronze, Chola period, 10th century.]]<br />
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'''Buddhism amongst the [[Tamils]]''' was historically found in the [[Tamilakam]] region of India and [[Sri Lanka]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Monius |first1=Anne |title=Imagining a Place for Buddhism: Literary Culture and Religious Community in Tamil-Speaking South India |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-803206-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CvetN2VyrKcC}}</ref><br />
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==India==<br />
===Origin===<br />
The heritage of the town of [[Nagapattinam|Nākappaṭṭinam]] is found in the Burmese historical text of the 3rd century BCE and gives evidence of a Budha Vihar built by the [[Ashoka|King Ashoka]]. An inscription from [[Anuradhapura]], Sri Lanka dated to 2nd century BCE records the association of Tamil merchants with Buddhist institution.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Duraiswamy|first=Dayalan|title=Role of Archaeology on Maritime Buddhism|url=https://www.academia.edu/19992743|language=en}}</ref><br />
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Ancient ruins of a 4th-5th-century Buddhist monastery, a Buddha statue, and a Buddhapada (footprint of the Buddha) were found in another section of the ancient city, now at [[Pallavaram|Pallavanesvaram]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rao |first=SR |date=2 July 1991 |title=Marine archaeological explorations of Tranquebar-Poompuhar region on Tamil Nadu coast |url=https://drs.nio.res.in/drs/bitstream/handle/2264/3295/Mar_Archaeol_2_5.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Marine Archaeology |language=English |volume=2 |page=6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124225917/ |archive-date=24 January 2011 |via=DSpace Repository}}</ref><br />
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Nāgappaṭṭinam was a Buddhist centre of the 4th-5th century CE. Its [[stupa]] dates from this era. Buddhism disappeared from this city as of an unknown date but was revived as of the 9th century. (H.P.Ray, The Winds of Change, Delhi 1994, p.&nbsp;142) In the 11th century, [[Chudamani Vihara]] was built by the Javanese king Sri Vijaya Soolamanivarman with the patronage of [[Raja Raja Chola I]].<ref name="history">{{cite web |url=http://www.nio.org/past_events/archaeology/sridhar.pdf |title=Ancient ports and maritime trade centres in Tamilnadu and their significance |accessdate=2006-10-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208135309/http://www.nio.org/past_events/archaeology/sridhar.pdf |archivedate=8 February 2007 |df=dmy }}</ref> The "Animangalam Copperplate" of Kulothungachola notes that “Kasiba Thera” [Buddhist Monk] renovated the Buddhist temple in the 6th century with the help of Buddhist monks of "[[Naga Nadu]]". This "nagar annam vihar" later came to be known as "Nagananavigar". Buddhism flourished until the 15th century and the buildings of the vihara survived until the 18th century.<br />
[[Kanchipuram]] is one of the oldest cities in [[South India]], and was a city of learning for [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Sanskrit]], and [[Pali]] and was believed to be visited by [[Xuanzang]]. He visited the city in the 7th century and said that this city was 6 miles in circumference and that its people were famous for bravery and piety as well as for their love of justice and veneration for learning. He further recorded that [[Gautama Buddha]] had visited the place. It was during the reign of the [[Pallava dynasty]] from the 4th to the 9th centuries that [[Kanchipuram]] attained its limelight. The city served as the Pallava capital, and many of the known temples were built during their reign. According to Tamil tradition, the founder of [[Zen]], [[Bodhidharma]] was born here.{{sfn|Kambe|2008}}{{sfn|Zvelebil|1987|p=125-126}}{{refn|group=note|Little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend.{{sfn|McRae|2003}} There are three principal sources for Bodhidharma's biography.{{sfn|Dumoulin|Heisig|Knitter|2005|p=85-90}} None of them mentions specifically Tamil Nadu, only "the western regions" and "Souther India". See [[Bodhidharma#Birthplace sources]] for an extensive overview of possible origins, and the reliability of the sources provided for these possible origins.}}<br />
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In the 8th century CE, Buddhist monk [[Vajrabodhi]], the son of a Tamil aristocrat, travelled from Tamil Nadu to the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] capital of [[Chang'an]], via Sri Lanka and [[Srivijaya]], after mastering the art of [[Vajrayana|Tantric Buddhism]]. He took a plethora of new theological beliefs to a China that was largely following [[Confucianism]] or [[Taoism|Daoism]]. Vajrabodhi's contribution to the growth of Tantric Buddhism in China has been recorded by one of his lay disciples, Lü Xiang.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sundberg |first1=J |title=The Life of the Tang Court Monk Vajrabodhi as Chronicked by Lü Xiang |url=http://www.shin-ibs.edu/documents/pwj3-13/08Sundberg-Giebel.pdf |website=archive.org}}</ref><br />
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==Literature==<br />
Various scholarly works dating back to the 2nd century common era saw the birth of classical Tamil works composed by eminent Tamil poets with Buddhist philosophical themes and insights illustrate the impact that Buddhism had in the world of Tamil scholarship.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Somasundaram |first1=Ottilingam |last2=Tejus Murthy |first2=A. G. |title=Manimekalai: The ancient Buddhist Tamil epic, its relevance to psychiatry |journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry |date=2016 |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=229–232 |doi=10.4103/0019-5545.183788 |doi-access=free |pmid=27385862 |pmc=4919973 |issn=0019-5545}}</ref> One of the classical products of that period is the ancient Tamil Buddhist epic-poem [[Manimekalai]] by the celebrated poet [[Chithalai Chathanar]] is set in the town of Kaveripattanam.<ref>Rao Bahadur Krishnaswāmi Aiyangar, ''Maṇimekhalai in its Historical Setting'', London, 1928. Available at www.archive.org [https://archive.org/details/manimekhalaiinit031176mbp]</ref><ref>Hisselle Dhammaratana,''Buddhism in South India'', Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, 1964. Available on Buddhist Publication Society Online Library [http://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh124-u.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025849/http://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh124-u.html|date=4 March 2016}}</ref><br />
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==Tamil Buddhist historical figures==<br />
*[[Bodhisena]] - Buddhist scholar notable for travelling to Japan<br />
*[[Buddhadatta]] - 5th-century Theravada Buddhist writer <br />
*[[Dhammapāla]] - [[Theravada]] Buddhist commentator believed to have lived at [[Badara Tittha Vihara]]<br />
*[[Dignāga]] - 6th-century Buddhist scholar and one of the founders of the Buddhist school of logic [[Pramāṇa-samuccaya]]<br />
*[[Vajrabodhi]] - Esoteric Buddhist monk and one of the 8 patriarchs of [[Shingon]] Buddhism who according to some theories, came from what is now Tamilakam. Also associated with the [[Nalanda]] monastery in [[Bihar]]<br />
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==Sri Lanka==<br />
{{Main| Buddhism amongst Tamils in Sri Lanka}}<br />
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== Thalaivetti Muniappan Buddhist Temple ==<br />
[[File:Thalaivettimuniyappantirumalaiammantemple.jpg|thumb|Thalaivetti Muniappan Temple]]<br />
The Madras High Court was hearing a plea by the Buddha Trust in Salem, which said that the idol was originally that of the Buddha, but over time it was taken over and was worshipped as that of Thalaivetti Munniappan. The Madras High Court has declared that the statue of the main deity at a temple in Salem district is that of Buddha and not a Hindu deity. The idol in the temple is currently being worshipped as Thalaivetti Muniappan. The High Court was hearing a plea by Buddha Trust, based in Salem, who had filed a petition in 2017 saying that the idol is of the Buddha. Taking cognisance of a report filed by the state archaeological department that a preliminary inspection has revealed that the statue of the Buddha, Justice N Anand Venkatesh has ruled that the idol is indeed originally that of the Buddha.<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Buddhism amongst Tamils in Sri Lanka]]<br />
* [[Buddhaghosa]]<br />
* [[Dhammapāla]]<br />
* [[Manimekalai]]<br />
* [[Kundalakesi]]<br />
* [[Sri Lanka Maha Bodhi Centre, Chennai]]<br />
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==Notes==<br />
{{reflist|group=note}}<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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==Sources==<br />
{{refbegin}}<br />
* {{cite book |last1=Dumoulin |first1=Heinrich |author-link1=Heinrich Dumoulin |last2=Heisig |first2=James |author-link2=James Heisig |last3=Knitter |first3=Paul F. |author-link3=Paul F. Knitter |title=Zen Buddhism: India and China |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9CYeWYtYBS4C&pg=PA90 |year=2005 |publisher=World Wisdom, Inc |isbn=978-0-941532-89-1}}<br />
* {{Citation | last =Kambe | first =Tstuomu | title =Bodhidharma. A collection of stories from Chinese literature | url =http://www.purple.dti.ne.jp/kambe/BodhiDharma-IDS.pdf | access-date =1 April 2013 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20151106054424/http://www.purple.dti.ne.jp/kambe/BodhiDharma-IDS.pdf | archive-date =6 November 2015 | url-status =dead |date=2008}}<br />
* {{Citation | last=McRae | first=John R. | publication-date=2000 | contribution=The Antecedents of Encounter Dialogue in Chinese Ch'an Buddhism | contribution-url=http://kr.buddhism.org/zen/koan/John_McRae.htm | editor-last=Heine | editor-first=Steven | editor2-last=Wright | editor2-first=Dale S. | title=The Kōan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism | publisher=Oxford University Press }}<br />
* {{Citation |last=McRae |first=John |year=2003 |title=Seeing Through Zen. Encounter, Transformation, and Genealogy in Chinese Chan Buddhism |publisher=The University Press Group Ltd |isbn=978-0-520-23798-8}}<br />
* {{Citation | last=Zvelebil | first=Kamil V. | title=The Sound of the One Hand | journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society | volume=107 | issue=1 | year=1987 | pages=125–126 | doi =10.2307/602960 | publisher=Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 107, No. 1 | jstor=602960 }}<br />
{{refend}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/vallipuram.html THE VALLIPURAM BUDDHA IMAGE]<br />
* [https://theprint.in/india/thalaivetti-muniappan-turns-buddha/1064458/ Thalaivetti Muniappan turns Buddha]<br />
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{{Asia in topic|Buddhism in}}<br />
{{Buddhism topics}}<br />
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[[Category:Buddhism amongst Tamils| ]]<br />
[[Category:History of Southeast Asia]]<br />
[[Category:History of South Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Sri Lankan Tamil history]]<br />
[[Category:Ancient Tamil Nadu]]<br />
[[Category:Cultural history of Tamil Nadu|Kingdoms]]<br />
[[Category:Buddhist communities of Sri Lanka]]</div>DilKhus