Tracing footprints of Buddhism in Chola country : The New Indian Express

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I feel very happy to share the write up on my study in The New Indian Express, City Express, Trichy Edition, 15.5.2015, with thanks to the daily, with additional photographs on my field work.  

Tamil University Administrative block

தி நியூ இந்தியன் எக்ஸ்பிரஸ், சிட்டி எக்ஸ்பிரஸ் , திருச்சி பதிப்பில் 15.5.2015 அன்று வெளியான பௌத்த ஆய்வு தொடர்பான எனது பேட்டியை, கூடுதல் படங்களுடன் பகிர்வதில் மகிழ்கின்றேன். அவ்விதழுக்கு என் மனமார்ந்த நன்றி. 

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Tracing footprints of Buddhism in Chola country

B Jambulingam tells CE about his research on which led him to find at least 57 ancient Buddha statues in 10 districts of Tamil Nadu.

by N.Ramesh

Thanjavur: B.Jambulingam (56), who has been working as an office Superintendent of Tamil University, an ardent Saivite, whose search for Buddhism in Chola Country led him to identify as many as 67 ancient Buddha statues made of granite in 10 districts. Of these, most of the statues were found in eight districts which could be called the Chola country.

Reminiscing his foray into academic research, while still working as an administrator, Jambulingam said one of the Vice-Chancellor of Tamil University helped the non-academic staff to pursue their academic interests.

“When I registered for MPhil at Madurai Kamaraj University, I wanted to do research in to the historical and the literary creation in the Ponniyin Selvan, and the portrayal of a Buddha Vihar in Nagapattinam led me to do research on Buddhism in the erstwhile combined Thanjavur district,” says Jambulingam.

He took stock of the earlier findings of Buddha statues by scholars like Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy who had identified 10 Buddha statues in the Chola country. He made a note of it and the statues identified by other scholars, and took the arduous journey to trace them and also to locate new ones.

Lack of transport facilities did not deter him and he used to take buses and then went to remote places to identify the Buddha statues. He used the time during weekends and some times took leave from work to pursue his research. “There were scary moments like when a villager described the presence of ghost in remote places. In some instances, villagers came to attack me, thinking that I was a smuggler, who would take away the statues”, says Jambulingam.

However the labour did yield results as Jambulingam identified 15 granite statues of Buddha and one Bronze statue, which were never known to the academic community.

In many places where I identified the Buddha statue, the local people later started maintaining and even worshipping them,” adds Jambulingam with satisfaction. However in some places when he revisited, the Buddha statue he found went missing. He feels it would be better the Buddhist statues are preserved by the appropriate authorities so that future generation appreciate our history. After completing his M.Phil. Jambulingam pursued his Ph.D. in Tamil University and was awarded doctorate for his thesis ‘Buddhism in the Chola Country’.

“Buddhism prevailed in Chola country since the period of Pallavas to the Period of Nayaks. A 16^th Century inscription at Kumbeswarar Temple points to  the presence of a Buddha temple in Tiruvalandurai”, says Jambulingam. It shows Buddhism flourished in this part of Tamil Nadu till the 16^th century.

Jambulingam says he is happy that his work would contribute to the revival of Buddhism in Tamil Nadu. During his search for Buddha statues, Jambulingam also stumbled upon many Jain statues in the Chola country. He identified as many as 13 Jain Tirthankaras in Thanjavur, Ariyalur, Pudukottai and Tiruvarur districts.

Jambulingam also studied the presence of Nagapattinam-style Buddha bronze icons in the Chola country. He adds the presence of as many as 350 Buddhist bronze icons used for worship were recorded in the year 1856. Later, the bronze icons were found in Velipalayam on Nanayakkara Street in Nagpattinam in the years 1925 and 1934.

He says recently bronze icons have been found in Velipalayam in Nagapattinam area. Jambulingam, who has been awarded many awards including Siddhantha Ratnam by Tiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, is also an accomplied translator with five published translation works, most of them for children, to his credit. He has written many articles for journals and newspapers.

Summarizing his research work Jambulingam says, “There might have been Buddhist temples in the Chola country, here and there, in parallel to the Saivite temples which have been mentioned in Thevaram.”   

Courtesy: The New Indian Express, City Express, Tiruchy, Friday, 15 May 2015

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The New Indian Express, City Express, Trichy Edition, 15.5.2015 p.2

The New Indian Express, City Express, Trichy Edition, 15.5.2015 p.1

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பிற பேட்டிகள்

1.ச.ம.ஸ்டாலின், "புத்தரைத் தேடி", தினமணி, 6 ஜனவரி 2008

2.M.T.Saju, “Buddha spotting in Chola country fills is weekends”, The Times of India, Madurai/Trichy, 11.10.2012

3.ராசின், “தமிழர் வழிபாடு முனீஸ்வர புத்தர்”, ராணி,  3.5.2015

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3 பிப்ரவரி 2023 அன்று மேம்படுத்தப்பட்டது.