Above: Hindu Sculptures in Ancient Afghanistan - A paper by P. Banerjee and R.C. Agrawala
04 October, 2011
Classical Afghanistan
Above: Classical Afghanistan - A paper by Prof. Lokesh Chandra on Buddhism & Hinduism in ancient Afghanistan
02 August, 2011
The lost history of Lumbini
Francois Gautier, The Pioneer
Muslim invaders treated Buddhists as infidels and attacked their places of worship. They razed every single Buddhist temple they encountered, burnt libraries and killed monks. This is why we cannot find Buddhist structures in India, except a few stupas, and why Lumbini has been lost
Buddhism was once upon a time prevalent in India till about the 4th century AD. Many historians, both in India and abroad, have implied that it nearly totally disappeared from India, because it was slowly ‘swallowed’ back by Hinduism at the hands of spiteful Brahmins.
Others have however pointed out that if Hinduism resisted the Muslim onslaught thanks to its Kshatriyas - the Rajputs, Marathas and Sikhs - Buddhism, because it made non-violence an uncompromising dogma, was literally wiped-off the face of India in a few centuries, as it refused to oppose any resistance.
For the Muslim soldiers, Buddhists, who adored statues and did not believe in Allah, were as much infidels as the Hindus, and they razed every single Buddhist temple (and also Jain temples, as the ruins below Fathepur Sikri have proved) they encountered, burnt all the precious libraries and killed tens of thousands of monks, without encountering any opposition. This is why you cannot find a single trace of Buddhist structures today in India, save for a few stupas, which were too cumbersome to be destroyed.
The history of the Islamic onslaught on Buddhism in India should be rewritten. In 1193 CE, for instance, the wonderful Nalanda University was razed to the ground by Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turkish Muslim invader on his way to conquer Bengal. He looted and burned the monastery, and killed hundreds or even thousands of monks. The shock of this event lives on in local cultural memory: The three libraries of Nalanda - with books like the ones famous travellers famous Xuanzang and Yi Jing carried back to China were so large that they smouldered for six long months.
But most interesting is the history of Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, which is one of the four holy places of Buddhism. Lumbini is situated at the foothills of the Himalayas in modern Nepal. In Buddha’s time, Lumbini was a beautiful garden full of green and shady sal trees.
The garden and its tranquil environs were owned by both the Sandyas and the Kolias clans. King Suddhodana, father of Gautama Buddha, was of the Shakya dynasty belonging to the Kshatriya or the warrior caste. In 249 BC, when the Emperor Ashoka visited Lumbini, it was a flourishing village. Ashoka constructed four stupas and a stone pillar with a figure of a horse on top. The stone pillar bears an inscription which, in English translation, runs as follows: “King Piyadasi (Ashoka), beloved of devas, in the 20 year of the coronation, himself made a royal visit, Buddha Sakyamuni having been born here, a stone railing was built and a stone pillar erected to the Bhagavan”.
Lumbini then remained neglected and forgotten for centuries. But in 1895, Feuhrer, a famous German archaeologist, discovered the great Ashoka pillar while wandering about the foothills of the Churia range. Further exploration and excavation of the surrounding area revealed the existence of a brick temple and a sandstone sculpture within the temple itself, which depicts the scenes of Buddha’s birth. But there was great damage, which Feuhrer could not explain, except speculate that the place was once ransacked.
Historian Bhuban Lal Pradhan believes that it was Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517 AD) and Aurangzeb (1668-1701 AD) who were mainly responsible for the ravage and subsequent desertion of the Lumbini and Kapilavastu regions. Nepalese rulers were helpless and even Mukund Sena (1782-93 AD), who ruled the region from Palpa, could do nothing to recover the religious glory of the site and the result was that this holy place was lost in the dense forest that grew over it. Later the name of Lumbini gradually changed to Rummindei and then to Rupandehi, the present name of the district.
Since Feuhrer’s discovery, several excavations have been conducted and a large number of ancient relics have been brought to light which reveal that Lumbini was an important place of Buddhist pilgrimage even during the time of the Mauryas. Now China is leading a project worth $3 billion to transform the small town into a premier place of pilgrimage for Buddhists from around the world. Little Lumbini will have an airport, highway, hotels, convention centre, temples and a Buddhist university. It’s not all about philanthropy, but also to undermine the Dalai Lama’s influence in South Asia.
Romila Thapar, India’s most respected historian, believes that because Buddhism challenged the very structure of the caste system, it was not liked by the upper castes who did not let it flourish. She also points a finger at the “policy of assimilation” of Hinduism, such as stating that Buddha is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
But Romila Thapar is wrong. If it can be said that Adi Shankaracharya’s preaching the five-fold path of bhakti got the Buddhist converts back into Hinduism, the reality is that Buddhism in India was wiped out by Islamic invaders and that Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam, suffered greatly in the process.
Muslim invaders treated Buddhists as infidels and attacked their places of worship. They razed every single Buddhist temple they encountered, burnt libraries and killed monks. This is why we cannot find Buddhist structures in India, except a few stupas, and why Lumbini has been lost
Buddhism was once upon a time prevalent in India till about the 4th century AD. Many historians, both in India and abroad, have implied that it nearly totally disappeared from India, because it was slowly ‘swallowed’ back by Hinduism at the hands of spiteful Brahmins.
Others have however pointed out that if Hinduism resisted the Muslim onslaught thanks to its Kshatriyas - the Rajputs, Marathas and Sikhs - Buddhism, because it made non-violence an uncompromising dogma, was literally wiped-off the face of India in a few centuries, as it refused to oppose any resistance.
For the Muslim soldiers, Buddhists, who adored statues and did not believe in Allah, were as much infidels as the Hindus, and they razed every single Buddhist temple (and also Jain temples, as the ruins below Fathepur Sikri have proved) they encountered, burnt all the precious libraries and killed tens of thousands of monks, without encountering any opposition. This is why you cannot find a single trace of Buddhist structures today in India, save for a few stupas, which were too cumbersome to be destroyed.
The history of the Islamic onslaught on Buddhism in India should be rewritten. In 1193 CE, for instance, the wonderful Nalanda University was razed to the ground by Bakhtiyar Khilji, a Turkish Muslim invader on his way to conquer Bengal. He looted and burned the monastery, and killed hundreds or even thousands of monks. The shock of this event lives on in local cultural memory: The three libraries of Nalanda - with books like the ones famous travellers famous Xuanzang and Yi Jing carried back to China were so large that they smouldered for six long months.
But most interesting is the history of Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, which is one of the four holy places of Buddhism. Lumbini is situated at the foothills of the Himalayas in modern Nepal. In Buddha’s time, Lumbini was a beautiful garden full of green and shady sal trees.
The garden and its tranquil environs were owned by both the Sandyas and the Kolias clans. King Suddhodana, father of Gautama Buddha, was of the Shakya dynasty belonging to the Kshatriya or the warrior caste. In 249 BC, when the Emperor Ashoka visited Lumbini, it was a flourishing village. Ashoka constructed four stupas and a stone pillar with a figure of a horse on top. The stone pillar bears an inscription which, in English translation, runs as follows: “King Piyadasi (Ashoka), beloved of devas, in the 20 year of the coronation, himself made a royal visit, Buddha Sakyamuni having been born here, a stone railing was built and a stone pillar erected to the Bhagavan”.
Lumbini then remained neglected and forgotten for centuries. But in 1895, Feuhrer, a famous German archaeologist, discovered the great Ashoka pillar while wandering about the foothills of the Churia range. Further exploration and excavation of the surrounding area revealed the existence of a brick temple and a sandstone sculpture within the temple itself, which depicts the scenes of Buddha’s birth. But there was great damage, which Feuhrer could not explain, except speculate that the place was once ransacked.
Historian Bhuban Lal Pradhan believes that it was Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517 AD) and Aurangzeb (1668-1701 AD) who were mainly responsible for the ravage and subsequent desertion of the Lumbini and Kapilavastu regions. Nepalese rulers were helpless and even Mukund Sena (1782-93 AD), who ruled the region from Palpa, could do nothing to recover the religious glory of the site and the result was that this holy place was lost in the dense forest that grew over it. Later the name of Lumbini gradually changed to Rummindei and then to Rupandehi, the present name of the district.
Since Feuhrer’s discovery, several excavations have been conducted and a large number of ancient relics have been brought to light which reveal that Lumbini was an important place of Buddhist pilgrimage even during the time of the Mauryas. Now China is leading a project worth $3 billion to transform the small town into a premier place of pilgrimage for Buddhists from around the world. Little Lumbini will have an airport, highway, hotels, convention centre, temples and a Buddhist university. It’s not all about philanthropy, but also to undermine the Dalai Lama’s influence in South Asia.
Romila Thapar, India’s most respected historian, believes that because Buddhism challenged the very structure of the caste system, it was not liked by the upper castes who did not let it flourish. She also points a finger at the “policy of assimilation” of Hinduism, such as stating that Buddha is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
But Romila Thapar is wrong. If it can be said that Adi Shankaracharya’s preaching the five-fold path of bhakti got the Buddhist converts back into Hinduism, the reality is that Buddhism in India was wiped out by Islamic invaders and that Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam, suffered greatly in the process.
08 July, 2011
Francois Gautier targets Manu Joseph 's deep rooted prejudice
From: Francois Gautier
Date: 2011/7/8
Subject: your article in the New York Times
To: josephmanu@gmail.com
Cc: letters@nytimes.com, editorial@nytimes.com, nytnews@nytimes.com
Sub: your article in the New York Times (Link)
Mr. Manu Joseph,
I am journalist like you: correspondent in South Asia of the French daily Le Figaro for ten years, now editor of La Revue de l’Inde (Editions l’Harmattan, Paris) the only magazine solely dedicated to India in the French speaking world (20.000 copies per issue).
Subject: your article in the New York Times
To: josephmanu@gmail.com
Cc: letters@nytimes.com, editorial@nytimes.com, nytnews@nytimes.com
Sub: your article in the New York Times (Link)
Mr. Manu Joseph,
I am journalist like you: correspondent in South Asia of the French daily Le Figaro for ten years, now editor of La Revue de l’Inde (Editions l’Harmattan, Paris) the only magazine solely dedicated to India in the French speaking world (20.000 copies per issue).
Also a writer, author of a dozen books in French and English. Amongst them ‘The Art of Healing (Harper Collins, 2010), The Guru of joy (Hay House USA, 100.000 copies sold), La Caravane Intérieure (Paris, Les Belles Lettres).
I am a too born Christian. My father, a very good man, was a devout catholic; my uncle was the parish head of the famous church Saint Jean de Montmartre.
I also live in India and am married to an Indian from Delhi. But the comparison stops there. I have respect for India’s ancient culture and would never dare running it down the way you did.
The history of respect and devotion to Gurus is a very ancient tradition and is something that is both spontaneous and natural to millions of Indians. I have also interacted for many years with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and observed that he is engaged in countless charity works, both in India and abroad; that he gives selflessly his time to others, never getting angry, never getting impatient, in the nearly 20 years I have known him. His Sudarshan Kriya technique has brought joy, energy and well-being to millions of people, including me – I would recommend it to all journalists, who are subjected to so much stress and unhealthy life styles.
What I have also observed during my many years in India is that not only both the Hindus and Indian media will never run down the Pope or Indian bishops, but will even go to churches, even if they are Hindus, because they recognize that God takes many forms and incarnations. But apparently you, and many other Christians in India, do not reciprocate this respect.
What you have indeed shown is that your Christian identity takes precedence over the impartiality you should show as a journalist. With no direct knowledge of the Art of Living foundation, or of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s work, you have used the power of the Word, to slander your own culture, that too in such a prestigious publication as the New York Times, taking advantage of the innocence and ignorance of India of most of its readers.
Shame on you!
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