Is Sabarimala a Buddhist Monastery?
Posted on April 1, 2007
I read this article on Sabarimala and Buddhism that explores a few intriguing questions about Sabarimala in Kerala. It is the hilltop temple in the Western Ghats that attracts scores of pilgrims during one month, every year. The trek is arduous and the rituals that precede the pilgrimage are really difficult. Unlike many other pilgrimages in Hindu culture - maybe even unlike any other.
The article proposes the hypothesis that Sabarimala is actually a Buddhist pilgrimage(monastery). Some of the salient points are given below, which are really thought provoking. It makes sense, on some level.
- The austerities followed by the Iyyappa devotees are similar to the vows, known as ashta-shilas, taken by Buddhists
- The Iyyappa temple in Sabarimala was built by a Pandalam king. The Pandalam dynsasty is an offshoot of the Pandya dynasty of Tamil Nadu. And the Pandalam king who built the Iyyappa temple was not a Hindu. He was a Buddhist.
- (They) never bother to think how Iyyappa who is supposed to be the son of Shiva and Vishnu, could have possibly met got help from a Muslim who lived just a few hundred years ago.
- The pilgrims’ chant of ‘Swamiye Saranam Iyyappa’ is similar to the Buddhist chant of ‘Buddham Saranam Gachhaami’. In no other Hindu temple is the word ‘Saranam’ used in a chant.
- The Makara Jyoti which appears mysteriously in the Sabarimala forests on the Makara Sankranti day gave it the name Potalaka. The surprise: The Dalai Lama’s palace in Lhasa is called - Potala!
- Hsuen Tsang refers to Avalokitesvara* on the Potala in the following words, summarised by Waters (1905): “In the south of the country near the sea was the Mo-lo-ya (Malaya) mountain, with its lofty cliffs and ridges and deep valleys and gullies, on which were sandal, camphor and other trees. To the east of this was Pu-ta-lo-ka (Potalaka) mountain with steep narrow paths over its cliffs and gorges in irregular confusion…”
- Iyyappa is also known as Dharma Sasta, and “Shastha” is mentioned elsewhere as a name for the Buddha.
- Iyyappa has the vajradanda, a crooked stick in his right arm. The vajra is a characteristic weapon of Bodhisattva.
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did you ever think how a muslim helped the ancient bodhisattva?
The seemingly malayali?tamil word “potala” and the Dalailama’s “potala” are one and the same?
There was no clear cut demarcation between Hindu, Buddhist and Jains in south India. There was for example Pampa the adikavi of kannada who was a Jain and wrote the ramayana. SOme of the reasons citied here are quite common across all indic traditions. For Example:
“1. The austerities followed by the Iyyappa devotees are similar to the vows, known as ashta-shilas, taken by Buddhists ”
Vows are common in many traditions. There are Yogic vows which are also similar based on the yoga sutra of patanjali. There are also many Brahmin vrathas which enjoin similar strictures. It is not just a Buddhism Monopoly.
“2. The Iyyappa temple in Sabarimala was built by a Pandalam king. The Pandalam dynsasty is an offshoot of the Pandya dynasty of Tamil Nadu. And the Pandalam king who built the Iyyappa temple was not a Hindu. He was a Buddhist.”
The Pandyas who ruled over many centuries where sometimes Saivaites, sometimes jain and sometimes buddhist and the latter pandyans were vaishnavaites.
“The pilgrims’ chant of ‘Swamiye Saranam Iyyappa’ is similar to the Buddhist chant of ‘Buddham Saranam Gachhaami’. In no other Hindu temple is the word ‘Saranam’ used in a chant.”
Sharanagathi or surrender is a common concept across all Indic traditions. There are several Hindu temples where people pledge ‘Sharanam’ to Gods. Remmber the famous Ganesha Vanda ‘ Ganesha Sharanam Prapadya’
“The Makara Jyoti which appears mysteriously in the Sabarimala forests on the Makara Sankranti day gave it the name Potalaka. The surprise: The Dalai Lama’s palace in Lhasa is called - Potala! ”
What about Patala the sanskrin word for the undercover or underground. This is typical of many conspiracy theories. How about ‘Putana’ in Bagavatham - is she also related to potala. The potala in lahasa is infact a very local tibetian term which means red mountain.
“Iyyappa is also known as Dharma Sasta, and “Shastha” is mentioned elsewhere as a name for the Buddha.”
Shastha is a sanskrit word which comes from the word shasana meaning rule. This is common across Indic scriptures. Not at all unique to buddhism. Also is the ‘Shastha’ mountains in californai, america also Buddhist? It is an american indian name. Are the native american Indian buddhists as well or even Hindu?
“Iyyappa has the vajradanda, a crooked stick in his right arm. The vajra is a characteristic weapon of Bodhisattva. ”
Vajra is the characterstic weapon of the vedic God Indra who preceeded the Bodhisattwas by many millenia.