Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T17:03:30.726Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Buddhist Responses to Brāhmaṇa Challenges in Medieval India: Bodhgayā and Gayā*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2012

ABHISHEK S. AMAR
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The sixth to twelfth centuries of the common era were marked by intense religious activity in all parts of India. In the Paramāra kingdom – the main focus of the articles in this special issue – the dominant religious forces were Jainism and the Śaiva traditions of Hinduism. While Buddhism was certainly present in central India, archaeological remains, inscriptions and post-medieval narratives suggest its role was much diminished compared to the early historic period. In substantial contrast, Buddhism remained a vibrant force in eastern India. Bodhgayā, as the site of the Buddha's enlightenment, had emerged as a sacred place by the time of Aśoka in the third century BCE and it evolved subsequently into one of the key centres of the Buddhist world. This importance is attested by existing remains at the site, including the Mahābodhi temple, monastic ruins and innumerable sculptures from medieval times.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 155 - 185
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

I would like to thank my family for their unwavering support of my research programme. My ideas on inter-religious dynamics developed substantially during my time at Ruhr University, Bochum, as a visiting research fellow. Many thanks are due to the university and to Prof. Dr Volkhard Krech, director of the project studying inter-religious dynamics in Europe and Asia. Thanks are also due to Dr M. Willis for inviting me to contribute this paper to the present special issue.

References

Key works cited

Asher, F. M., The Art of Eastern India (Minneapolis, 1980).Google Scholar
Asher, F. M. “Gaya: Monuments of the Pilgrimage Town.” In Bodhgaya, the site of enlightenment. Edited by Leoshko, Janice. Bombay, 1988. pp. 74–88.Google Scholar
Bakker, H. T., Skanda Purāṇa (Groningen, 2003).Google Scholar
Banerjee-Sastri, A., “Ninety-Three Inscriptions on the Kurkihar Bronzes.” JBORS XXVI, 1940. pp. 236–251.Google Scholar
Beal, Samuel, The Life of the Hiuen-Tsian (London, 1906).Google Scholar
Davidson, R. M., “Reflections on the Maheśvara Subjugation Myth: Indic Materials, Saskyapa Apologetics, and the Birth of Heruka” JIABS XIV, 1991. pp. 197–234.Google Scholar
Davidson, R. M., Indian Esoteric Buddhism (Delhi, 2004).Google Scholar
Davis, R., Worshiping Śiva in Medieval India (Princeton, 2000).Google Scholar
Huntington, Susan, The ‘Pāla-Sena’ Schools of Sculpture (Leiden, 1984).Google Scholar
Holt, John, John, C. The Buddhist Viṣṇu Religious Transformation, Politics, and Culture (New York, 2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inden, Ronald, “Imperial Purāṇas Kashmir as Vaiṣṇava Center of the World”, In Querying the Medieval: Texts and the History of Practices in South Asia. (ed.) Inden, Ronald (New York, 2000), pp. 29–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitra, R. C., The Decline of Buddhism in India (Calcutta, 1954).Google Scholar
Omvdet, G., Buddhism in India: Challenging Brahmanism and Caste (London, 2003).Google Scholar
Paul, Debjani, “Antiquity of the Vishnupada at Gaya” East and West XXXV (1985), pp. 103–141.Google Scholar
Saraswati, S. K. and Sarkar, K.C.. Kurkihar, Gaya and Bodh Gaya (Rajshahi, 1936).Google Scholar
Verardi, G., “Images of Destruction: An Enquiry into Hindu Icons in their Relation to Buddhism” In Buddhist Asia 1: Papers from the first Conference of Buddhist Studies held in Naples in May 2001. Edited by Verardi, G. and Vita, Silvio (Kyoto, 2003), pp. 1–36.Google Scholar
Willis, M., The Archaeology of Hindu Ritual: Temples and the Establishment of the Gods (Cambridge, 2009).Google Scholar