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In The Souvenir of the Indian History Congress, 74th Session, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack 28-30 December 2013, pp 79-87. Odisha: Cradle of Vajrayana Buddhism Umakanta Mishra, lecturer Department of History, Ravenshaw University Cuttack Odisha is one region which had had the earliest and longest uninterrupted association with Buddhism in India. Tapussa and Bhallika, two merchants from Ukkala (Utkala, Odisha) were “the first in the world to become lay-disciples of the Buddha” (Mahavagga, 1st Khandaka). The Ceylonese chronicle, Mahavamsa and the 13th Major rock edict of Asoka reveal that the Kalinga War ( one of the ancient names of part of Odisha) in 261 BC was a major event in the history of Buddhism as the Mauryan king Asoka played a key role in the propagation of Buddhism in India and beyond after the great War. Odisha also preserves the evidence of the longest survival of Buddhism in India. Lama Taranath, the Buddhist pilgrim from Tibet who wrote History of Buddhism in India in 1608 AD refers to donation to and repair of some viharas by Mukundadeva (d 1568 AD), which was more than three centuries after the destruction of Nalanda and Odantapuri in 1199-1201 by Bakhtiyar Khalji, the general of Mohammad of Ghor . More important is to note that the Census of 1911 records as many as 1833 persons in Orissa professing their faith to be Buddhism (Sarao 2006). There are at least 120 archaeological Buddhist sites in Odisha, some of which, such as Lalitgiri and Udayagiri and Langudi, continued uninterruptedly for more than a millennium. These sites contain temples, viharas, caityas, votive stupas, mantras, dharanis and most importantly, gods, goddesses, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, so rich and varied that have few parallel in any other region of India. Literary and archaeological data point out that Odisha was one of the earliest centres of Vajrayana Buddhism from which the Buddhist mandalas, mandala art and architecture spread to Tibet, Java, China and Japan. There is much evidence to make the claim that the earliest archaeological evidence of Tibetan and Shingon Buddhism is found from Odisha. However, Odisha hardly figures in the standard books on Buddhist India. These books either refer to Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Sanci, Nalanda and other sites associated with Buddha’s life or refer to early excavated sites of Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda and Kanheri, Karle, Bhaja in Western Deccan. Or else these books highlight sites such as Nalanda, Odantapuri, Vikramasila and Somapura mahavihara of the Vajrayana times. Debala Mitra’s Buddhist Monuments only contains description about Ratnagiri (Mitra 1980). Major tropes in the Buddhist historiography The negligence of Odisha has to do with the way the history of Buddhism has been studied and developed. Alexander Cunningham initiated the Buddhist archaeology in India by undertaking explorations and excavations of Buddhist sites of India based on Yuan Chwang’s account of India. Our understanding of Indian Buddhism was further shaped by the Buddhist Pali canon, which was finally redacted in the Anuradhapura during the time of Dutthagamini in 2nd century-1st century BC. This overreliance on the textual account, especially on Pali Canon, led to glossing over the large amount of epigraphic, sculptural, architectural evidence from the archaeological context. The archaeological materials – epigraphic, sculptural, and iconographic – have many advantages over literary sources. For example, much of the epigraphical materials from Sanchi, Sarnath predate by several centuries our earliest actually datable literary sources. As Schopen points out “it tells us what a fairly large number of Indian Buddhists actually did, as opposed to what according to our literary sources-they might or should have done. But in addition to these two advantages there is a third: this material, in a considerable number of cases, tells us what the individuals themselves-whether laymen or monks-hoped to accomplish by those religious acts which they chose to record.” (Schopen 1984: 110-126). The third source which shaped our understanding of Buddhism is the way the history of Buddhism has been explained by the Pali text society. In this account of the history of Buddhism, the religion is seen as a protestant religion against the Vedic orthodoxy in the Buddha’s In The Souvenir of the Indian History Congress, 74th Session, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack 28-30 December 2013, pp 79-87. period which underwent modification in the Mahayana period due to influence of Bhakti ideology and which finally declined because of the degeneration in the sangha in the Vajrayana period. Such characterisation of Vajrayana Buddhism also largely fails to take into account the laity oriented nature of Vajrayana Buddhism which innovated dharanis, mantras, gods, goddesses and temples and rituals. Stotras, etc associated with the worship of these deities by the laities ( Mishra 2009). Vajrayana located itself as an integral part of Buddhism. The Tattvaratnavali section of Adhavayavajrasamgraha, a Buddhist text of 10th century AD, considered Buddhism as one religion (Eka Yana) which was further divided into various yanas (vehicle) in its long historical evolution (Shastri 1927). Early beginning One common assumption is that by the end of the reign of Asoka in the middle of third century BC, Buddhist monks and nuns were established in monasteries throughout the Indian subcontinent and that these monasteries, located near cities relied on state support. However, there are many inscriptions which point out to donations by monks and traders, and Asoka merely used the Buddhist ethics and Buddhist sites to reinforce royal power and gained legitimacy (Ray 2012). Pre-Asokan archaeological evidence of Buddhism has not been found so far in Odisha even though the Buddhist canonical work Mahavagga of Vinayapitaka and Anguttara Nikaya refer to Tappussa and Bhallika, two merchants of Ukkala (Utkala) as the first lay disciples of Buddha. They offered honey cake to Buddha just after Buddha’s enlightenment, took refuge in his teachings and the Buddha in return gave theem hair, which they took away to their land and contained this saririka cetiyas (physical relic) in a stupa ( Mahavagga; Majhimma There are two brahmi inscriptions of Asokan character which are found inscribed on a ruined Buddhist hillock sites of Tarapur called Tarapur. One inscription refers to kesathupa and the other refers to bhekhu tapussa danam. Many scholars question the authenticity of the two inscriptions. The absence of partination in them raises strong doubt about the genuineness of the inscription. Other archaeological materials from Odisha, however, Figure 1: Kesathupa in Asokan Brahmi inscribed on the point out to the presence of Buddhism in 3rd-2nd century BC. rock of Tarapur, a ruined Buddhist site of Jajpur district The earliest archaeological evidence of the presence of Buddhism in Orissa is the rock-cut elephant of Dhauli belonging to the Asokan period. Asoka was credited with the construction of 84000 stupas in different parts of India, and Yuan-chwang says that one of them was in the capital of Wu tu (Watters 1905:193). Dhauli, which contains the elephant and the Major Rock Edicts of Asoka, seems to contain an ancient stupa near the edict, which existed as late as 19th century. In the last century, several scholars noticed the remains of a stupa (Mitra 1881: 69; ASIAR XIII: 96). Further, the remains of a stupa relic as well yaksha figure dated to 1st century AD, which are in Odisha State Museum, indicate the existence of another Buddhist stupa in Bhubaneswar (Sahu 1958: 32). Around 2nd-1stcentury BC, four other Buddhist sites in the Mahanadi delta came up, notably Lalitgiri, Udayagiri, Langudi and Kaima. Lalitgiri mahacaitya was built in 2nd century BC. This is known from the post- Mauryan-brahmi inscription which was found near the damaged stone pavements of the stupa area and the relic casket found from the stupa area of Lalitgiri. The Buddhist site of Udayagiri in the diamond triangle of Udayagiri-Ratnagiri-Laitigiri in Jajpur district was also founded in 3rd-2nd century BC. The caitygrhya of Udayagiri near the Simhaprasata Mahavihara was constructed in 2nd century BC which underwent considerable modification after 7th century AD. Figure 2: Apsidal Caitygrhya of Udayagiri, 2nd century BC In The Souvenir of the Indian History Congress, 74th Session, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack 28-30 December 2013, pp 79-87. Langudi, a recently excavated site has yielded rock cut reliefs of yaksha figure of Sunga period, rock-cut stupas, figures of Buddhas, Tara and other goddesses. On the other hand, Kaima near Langudi preserves an elephant on its southern side, which has remarkable resemblance with the Dhauli elephant. Unlike the Dhauli elephant, it is a rounded one with its tusk broken. But the treatment of the trunk exhibits close similarity with Dhauli. It also contains a cell brahmi inscription of 2nd century AD character, which states three names, Sri Sri Buddha, Purugaditya and Goggularaba. A Prakrit inscription from Nagarjunakonda of Sri Virapuri Sadata records that Tosali, Palur and Puspagiri of Orissa were great Buddhist centres of Mahasamghikas in 3rd century AD Figure 3: Conch Shell brahmi inscription from Kaima, Jajpur, (Epigraphica Indica, hence EI XX: 21) 23). Around the 2nd century AD same time, the Bhadrakali Inscription of Gana records donation to goddess Parnadevati and certain Arya samgha (EI 29: 169–172). The Jayarampur plate of Maharaja Gopacandra of 5-6th century AD refers to donation of village Svetalaka by Mahasamanta, Maharaja Acyuta, a feudatory fo the Maharajadhiraja Sri Gopacandra to the Buddhist monks residing in a vihara at Bodhipadraka (Rajaguru, 1962: 206-29). From 5th century onwards two important developments took place in Buddhism. First, the Buddhist settlements expanded to inland Orissa. This is known from the Asanpat inscription of Satrubhanja of Keonjhar district, which records donation to Buddhist establishment (Das 1965: 13). Second, around the same time Ratnagiri monastery was built. The Tibetan pilgrim Taranath refers to the construction of Ratnagiri monastery in the reign of Buddhapaksa. From 6th century AD onwards, Ratnagiri monastery saw massive expansion with the construction of monastery I in 7th century AD, temples and stupas. The fact that Ratnagiri emerged as important Buddhist century in the post-6-7th century AD in Vajrayana phase of Buddhism is borne out not only from the number of votive stupas but also from numerous Chinese and Tibetan texts. Another Buddhist establishment which has been referred to in Yuan Chwang’s account but not satisfactorily identifies is Pusapgiri monastery. From the Si-yu-ki of Yuan Chwang, who visited Orissa in about A.D. 639, the pilgrim writes, “There were more than ten Asoka topes at places where the Buddha had preached. In the south-west of the country was the Pu-sie-p’o-k’i-li (restored by Julien as “Pushpagiri”) monastery in a mountain; the stone tope of this monastery exhibited supernatural lights and other miracles.” Odisha: A Cradle of Vajrayana Buddhism Numerous literary texts refer to the central role of Nalanda as an important Buddhist establishment in the spread of Buddhism. However, the literary texts tell very little about the role and importance of the Buddhist sites of Odisha. Ratnagiri mahavihara is referred to in many texts as an important centre of tantric Buddhism, especially Kalacakrayana ( which will be referred to) but there are hardly any literary reference to other Buddhist establishments such as Lalitagiri, (Candraditya mahavihara from the monastic seals found from excavation) or Udayagiri ( known as Madhavapura and Simhaprasta mahaviharas from the monastic seals) However epigraphic and sculptural and architectural evidence from these sites reveal that the Lalitgiri and Udayagiri were early centres of tantric Buddhism. The Abhisambodhi Vairocana image of Figure 4: Abhisambodhi Vairocana, Lalitgiri, early 7th century with mantra from Ch. 6 of Mahavairocanasutra, Lalitgiri In The Souvenir of the Indian History Congress, 74th Session, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack 28-30 December 2013, pp 79-87. Lalitgiri is inscribed with a mantra on the back slab which reads “namah samantabuddhanam a vira hum kham.” This mantra appears in chapter six of the Mahavairocanabhisambodhi, an important text in Chinese, Javanese, Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism. (Wayman & Tajima 1992:13). The inscription is paleographically dated to early 7th century AD. According to the introduction of the text in the Chinese and Japanese, one ruler of Odra ( one of the ancient names of Odisha), Subhakaradeva (660–758) introduced Tantrayana Buddhism in China at the beginning of the 8th century. He arrived at the Chinese capital at the invitation of Tang Hsuan-tsung. Subhakarasimha was a central Indian prince who studied at Nalanda and Ratnagiri. He visited to many countries including Sri Lanka in a merchant ship. In time, he proceeded to Gandhara from where he travelled to China (Yi-liang 1945). Included among the texts which he brought to China were the Mahavairocanabhisambodhi, which he translated into Chinese in 725 AD, and an iconographic copybook in his own hand of the mandala (mandala is a concentric circle in which deities are assigned particular position and direction.) deities of the Sarvatathagata-tattvasamgraha, the latter surviving in early Japanese copies and known as the Gobushinkan (Yamamoto 1990(tr) Mahavairocana sutra). He also made an iconographic copybook in his own hand of the mandala deities of the Sarvatathagata-tattvasamgraha (Sarvatathagata-tattva-samgraha 1981). Both Sarvatathagata-tattvasamgraha and the Gobushinkan emphasises the importance of Mahavairocana and the interrelated Mahakarunagarbhodbhava- and Vajradhatu-mandala. These two mandalas form the basis of Japanese Shingon Buddhism and, according to Japanese legends, were transmitted by Mahavairocana to Vajrasattva who kept them for several hundred years within an iron stupa in South India until they were recovered by Nagarjuna (Snodgrass 1988 I: 11119). Another figure associated with the spread of Vajrayana Buddhism to China is Amoghavajra and his preceptor Vajraboddhi. Vajrabodhi, before reaching China, stopped over at Srivijaya in 718 AD and according to one Chinese source, Amoghavajra met Vajrabodhi in Java and became his disciple. There are numerous examples of mandala sculptures in Odisha which has been treated with great scholarship by Donaldson ( Donaldson 2001). It is important to highlight the fact that the occurrence of the mantra of Mahavairocanasutra, Udayagiri as mandalas stupa, and evidence of numerous mandala sculptures in Odisha reveal the importance of Odisha as an important early centre of Tantric Buddhism. Odisha is one important source which inspired tantric Buddhism and its art, architecture and religion in Japan and Tibet and most likely the architectural ideology of Borodbodur and Candi Mendut in Java in 8th century AD. Odisha as one of the important centres of Vajrayana Buddhism is also reflected in numerous Tibetan texts of different times. In the Tibetan work (written towards the end of the fourteenth century A.D.) by mKhas-Grub Thams-chad mKhyen-Pa dGe-Legs-dPal-bZang-Po it is stated that the great preceptor Chilu Pandita (Cheluka), born in Or-bi-sar (Orissa), studied the complete Tripitaka in Ratnagirivihara, Vikramsila and Nalanda. (Mitra 1981: 23). The Tibetan text, Blue Annals (15th century) states that Acharya Cheluka, in search of the Kalacakra tantra, read it at the Ratnagiri-mahavihara, which was left undamaged by the invasion of the turskas (Roerich 1949, 1953, II: 755). The Tibetan texts differ about the name of the Buddhist acarya who brought Kalacakra tantra to India from the mythical land of Sambhala. While the Blue Annals credits it to Cheluka, the Pag Sam Jon Zang (completed in A.D. 1747) by Sum-Pa mKhan-Po Ye-Shes-dPal-aByor (Suma Khan-po Yese Pal Jor), it was Acharya Bitoba who obtained the Kalachakra-tantra from Sambhala. At the last moment of the king (Mahipala) Acharya Bitoba came and Vajrapani instructed him to go through magic to Sambhala where Kalachakra would be found. He went there and brought it to Ratnagiri and explained the doctrine to Bhikshu Abadhutipa, Bodhisri and Naropa. An older contemporary of the illustrious Atisa Dipankara (circa A.D. 980-1053), Naropa (variously known as Naro, Naropa, Nadapada and Naropada) was an eminent Tantric sage immortalized in the Tibetan works. He succeeded Jetari in the prized chair of Pandita at the northern gate of the Vikramsila monastery and afterward became the high priest of Vajrasana (i.e. Bodh-Gaya). He was equally well-known for his writings. One of his works is the Sekoddesa-tika, a commentary on the Sekoddesa section of the Kalacakra tantra. In The Souvenir of the Indian History Congress, 74th Session, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack 28-30 December 2013, pp 79-87. Further, Rinpoche Padmasabhava, who took Buddhism to Tibet from India in 8th century AD, belonged to Oddiyana, which has been identified by many scholars with Odisha (Mohanty 2012). One inscription containing dharanis on the back slab of the Avalokitesvara image of Udayagiri also invokes Padmasambhava (Sahu 1958: 146). The inscription is paleographically dated to 8th century AD. It states that tathagatadhisthita dhatugarbha stupa was set up on the very spot. Buddhist deities from Orissa The epigraphic and literary data presented above are not the only evidence of Odisha as an important centre of Buddhism, the sculptural evidence from Odisha reveals great variety of Vajrayana deities from different sites of Odisha. In terms of diversity of Vajrayana deities Odisha contains the widest variety of Buddhist sculptures. Some of these Vajrayana deities which were found from Odisha are as follows: The most important Bodhisatatva in Buddhism as well in Orissan Buddhism was Avalokitesvara. At least 14 forms of Avalokitesvara have been found from Orissa. They were as follows: .Cintamanicakra Avalokitesvara (Ajodhya in Baleswar District, Ratnagiri and Siddhesvar temple in Jajpur) 2. Cintamani Lokesvara (Bhubaneswar Orissa State Museum), 3. Khasarpana Lokesvara (Ratnagiri, , Achutarajapur, Baneswaranasi, etc), 4. Lokanatha ( Udayagiri, Lalitagiri, Jajpur, Rameswar temple in Boudh, 5. Harihara (?) Lokesvara/ Avalokita in Dharmacakra-mudra, 6.Vajradharma/ Rakta Lokesvara (Ratnagir,A chutarajapur, haripur-Aragarh and Siddhesvara temple in Jajpur) 7. Sadaksari 8. Jatamukuta, Lokevara ( from many places) 9. Sankhanatha Lokevara ( boudh, Udayagiri, now in San Francisco Museum) and Mudgala 10. Amoghapasa Lokesvara (Solampur, Ratnagir, Udayagiri and other places) 11. Sugatisandarsana Lokesvara ( Udayagiri, Solapua Maa temple, Cutatck, Dharmasala in Orissa State Museum) 12. Halahala Lokesvara ( Achutarajapur, Megesvara temple in Bhubaneswar) 13. Standing/ seating Avalokitesvaras in in varada mudra in many palces 14. Visnu Lokevara ( Siddhesvara temple, Jajpur) 15. Simhanada Avalokitesvara from Baneswarinasi. In total approximately 150 images of Avalokitesvara have been documented by me from different sites. Similarly, Tara cult was very popular in Orissa. Tara is found in the niches of 99 monolithic stupas of Ratnagiri. Though the Sadhanamala describes many forms of Tara, the classical Tara mantra Tare Tuttare Ture svaha is only reserved for 11 forms. In Orissa all these forms are found except Mrtyuvacana Tara and Vasyadhikara Tara. Some of the forms of Tara which are found from different sites are 1.Tara in lalitasana, varada mudrac 2 Standing Tara, 3 Astamahabhaya Tara, 4. Simhanada Taram 5.Khadiravani Tara ,6. Mahattari Tara, 7. Mahasri Tara, 8. Dhanada Tara, 9. Four-armed Sita Tara, 10. Four-armed Durgottarani Tara, 11. Vajra Tara 12. Cintamani Tara. Manjusri is the Buddhist god of wisdom and knowledge, and hence is represented in sculpture holding a sword and Prajnaparamita book. The sword, called prajnakhadga in some sadhanas, invariably in his right hand, is intended to cut asunder all ignorance, while the book, in his left hand, is the means of attaining transcendental wisdom. Nine forms of Manjusri have been found from Buddhist sites of Orissa. Some of the forms of Manjusri which are found in the Buddhsit sites of Orissa are as follows: 1 Siddhaikavira ‘2. Dharmasankha Samadhi 3. Dharmadhatuvagisvara 4. Arapacana Manjusri 5. Manjuvajra 6. Manjuvara , 7. Manjughosa, 8. Maharajalila Manjusri , 9. Vajraraga, 10. Two-armed with book on utpala and varada mudra – both standing and seating images. The cult of astabodhisattva (eight bodhisattvas) was quite popular in Orissa. They appear in free standing or as part of sculptural mandalas surrounding a central Buddhas in the backslab and pedestal. The astabodisattavas weer Samantabhadra, Maitreya, Lokesvara, Ksitigarbha, Vajrapani, Akasagarbha, Manjusri and Sarvanivaranaviskakambhin. Besides, these eight Bodhisttava, Bodhisattva Candraprabha has been found in Orissa Sculptural mandalas from Odisha Mandalas (concentric circle) forms an integral part of Vajrayana religion. A mandala is an arrangement of deities conceived of in sets laid out along the axes of cardinal points around a centre (Gellner 1996:190). A In The Souvenir of the Indian History Congress, 74th Session, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack 28-30 December 2013, pp 79-87. mandala is divided into five sections, while on the four sides of a central image or symbols are disposed, at each of the cardinal points, four other images or symbols are placed (Tucci 1970). The Buddhist mandala consists of a series of concentric magical circles, containing figures of Buddhist divinities. In the formation of mandala in the Guhyasamaja Tantra (6th century AD), each Tathagata was given a direction, a mantra, a colour, a prajna and a guardian of the gate (Bhattacharyya 1968: 45). From the Buddhist sites of Orissa five types of mandalas are found – 1.the stupa mandala with four Dhyani Buddhas flanked by two Bodhisattva each as in the Udayagiri stupa; 2. Sculptural mandalas of eight Bodhisattvas around a Buddha on a single stone slab; 3. Four × four Bodhisattvas surrounding four Dhyani Buddhas with the fifth one at the centre; 4. free-standing Bodhisattvas forming a mandala and the last type being the mandala diagram on the back of image. The last category– mandala diagram– is incised on the back of Jambhala image at Ratnagiri which consists of two concentric circles along with the Buddhist creed, a mantra and letters and numerous inscriptions representing Jambhala, Vasudhara, dancing deities, deified paraphernalia and musical instruments (Mitra 1981 I: 230–232). Conclusion The paper tried to argue that there are much epigraphic and archaeological data in Odisha which suggest that Buddhism became an important religion in Odisha in historical period. Laities thronged to various Buddhist centres, donated votive stupas and took away with them terracotta plaques, amulets and sealing s of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, monks and monasteries. These objects transported the spiritual energies of the Buddhas and sacred centres to the households. These innovations took place between 5th to 12th centuries AD at a time when the brahmanical religions constructed temples, provided land grants to brahmanas, popularised tirthas through the writings of sthalapuranas. Once historians accept a poly religious rather than predominantly a brahmanical (Puranic Hindu) landscape of early medieval Odisha, as the above historical evidence suggests, they need to change the angle of historical inquiry and address the question of poly-religious landscape, religious equations in a poly religious context and dynamics of religions and society in this vibrant and dynamic period of the Indian history. In The Souvenir of the Indian History Congress, 74th Session, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack 28-30 December 2013, pp 79-87. References 1. 2. 3. 4. Beal, S. (1958 reprint) Si- Yu-ki or Buddhist Records of the Western World, London, Kegan Paul. 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