BUDDHIST CENTRES

Padmakumari Amma. B “Jain-buddhist centres in the early history of Kerala” Thesis. Department of History , University of Calicut, 1995

CHAPTER S I X

DECLINE

DECLINE

Buddhism and Jainism have almost disappeared

from Kerala in the modern .age. There are no

records with reqard to the exact period or the

specific causes of their decline. ~GralGlpatti

claims that it ie Brahmins who had divine powera

uprooted Buddhism from this land. 1

An important factor behind the decline of

Buddhisam and Jainism was the Bhakti movement. It

embraced both Tamilnadu and Kerala during the 9th,

10th century A.D. The Alwars and Nayanars of

Tamilakam and Kulasekhara Alwar and Cheraman

PerumZt Nayanar of Kerala went into the midst of

1. "!%strika+um Budhanma'rumai vzdam ceytu, BudhanmZruFe uktivinu avar talkukayum ceytu. PerumT; avaru$e na'vu muyiccug SSsamu+\avare n2;tilninnum kalavztum ceytu". Sastri argued with the Buddhists. Buddhist failed. Peruma? cut the tongue of the Buddhists and driven away from the land. KeralolpattiyuJm marrum. (Ed-Gundert ) Kottayam. 1992. p. 168.

common people and etirred them up through the

stories and songs relating to the goodness of Hindu

Gods. People were made intoxicated with Bhakti.

The development of philosophical movements

in the South 1ed.to a clear rejection of tho

Buddhist and the Jain ideoloqies by the learned

strata of the society. Brahmin Philosophers like

Sankaracharya, Ramanujacharya and Hadhvacharya

vigorously attacked these heterodox religions with

their respective systems of Vedantic thought. They

defeated the Buddhist and Jain scholars in public

debat es . This led to the utter humiliation of

these religions in the sight of even common men.

During the early days, several kings of South

India had made generous grants to Buddhists and

Jains. The properties received aa Pallichandam

Virutti, helped the growth of the Sanghams. In

Kerala, kings like Vikramaditya Varagupa, and

2. Keralolpatti refers to the debate conducted at Trikk&PiyGr. This is described in detail in Catt irankam

RLmagha$a Mcsika gave liberal contributions to

them as mentioned earlier. I t . seems that petty

kingdoms like r y and MC?ika patronised these

religions. No records are available to show

whether any other king after them had given such

grants. On the other hand there are oeveral

records relating to the grants to the Hindu

temples . ' This resulted in the growth of Hindu

religion and the decline of the Buddhist and the

Jain religione.

Conflicts among the followers of these

religions were another cause, and the

inteneification of these conflicts put an end to

their growth. These de.velopments are described in

3. All the other recordo of the Cera period numbering about 130 are of this category. The Huzur office plates, Mitrananda puram copper plates, the inscriptions of Manalikkarai and the record of Vira Ravi Varma are clear evidences to this fact.

See. T.A.S. vol. I 1 pp. 16,131-158; T.A.S. vol. I 1 1 p. 1-21,65-66.

Sanskrit works like Mat tavilasa 4 and

~hapavada j juka5 by the Pallava king Mahendra

Varman. The cikyars of Kerala used these worke in

~ G t t u and they composed seperate Sttaprakaraa for

them in which these passages are elaborated. That

is an indication that these ~Hkygrs of Kerala were

acquainted with the conflicts and the degenaration

of Jain and Buddhist culture. They could have

added those passages only if they imagined that the

natives of Kerala who found the audience would

apperciate such comments . This ahows that the

contents of the above mentioned works were

applicable to the Buddhists and Jains in Kerala

alao.

4. Mattavilasa, (Hadras 1981).

5. Bhagavadajjuka (Madras 1978).

Changes which took place in the socio-

economic conditions of ancient Kerala, may be cited

as factors influencing the decline of these

creeds.

The expanaion of Brahmin settlements led to

the growth of feudal tendencies in society which

caused the decline of these creeds. After dealing

with this problem in detail, Kesavan Vetuthat,

rightly pointed out that "in analyaing the social

significance of the Brahman settlement it has been

shown that it created a typically feudal society,

heirarchically graduate according to birth and

occupation and with the brahman contact as the

point of reference in fixing eocial and ritual

status. Brahmins were placed on the top of the

caste heirarchy. They became land lords. Common

people turned out to be dependants of them. Tho

supremacy of Brahmins in aociety contributed to

6. Kesavan Veluthat , Brahman Settlements in Kerala, (A.D. 1100- 1500), M. Phil. Dissertation. J.N.U., 1978.

the deterioration of the position of Jains and

Buddhists in Kerala.

The Jains and Buddhists were responsible for

opening some new markets and trade routes connected

with land trade. But this trend was arrested soon

afterwards. From the 9th century A.D. the Jews

Syrian Christians and Arabs grew into formidable

forces in the trade centres of Kerala and sea trade

became more important than land trade. In the

medieval period land trade in the form of long

distance trade between different regions dried up

in the sub-continent as a growing feudal order gave

rise to small self-sufficient units with a closed

economy and only coastal trade centres involved in

sea trade flourished. Syrian Christians were given

permission to enter trade in a big way with Kollam

and Kodungalloor ae their centre. They were also

permitted to build churches, and propagate

Christianity. The kings helped them generoualy.

Necessary help was given by the kings to the Arabs

also.' These developments might have led to the

decline of Jains. Their limited machinery was

attuned to land trade and did not permit them to

enter into the field of West Asia and European

trade. As for the Buddhists who were involved in

sea trade with Srilanka, the political anarchy and

confusion which developed in that country might

have contributed to their decline. The submergence

of ~rimiilavisam in the sea accelerated the process

and sealed their fate in Kerala.

The Jain and Buddhist communities in Kerala

were basically the community of the traders.

Therefore, when land trade stagnated, the Jain

centres where the temples were kept alive by

donations from the caravans, loet their prosperity.

7. "Three Inscriptions o f Sthanu Ravi" T.A.S. vol.11, part I, gp. 60,86.

See also. The Muccunti Mosque Inscription, Cultural Symbiosis, op-cit. pp. 95,96.

Gradually the temple must have become deserted and

neglected, and some of them were taken over by

Brahmanical groups and converted into Hindu

temples. Similarly in the case of the Buddhist

centres on the seacoast, which were obviously the

offshoots of the seatrade with Srilanka, the Cola

imperial wars of the 11th. 12th and 13th centuries

created anarchy in the island and caused the

disruption and decline of their trade and commerce.

Bodhisatva ~val6kitGsSvara of crrmulav&a vihara,

the protector of sailors and merchants became

incapable of ensuring the prosperity of seatrade.

Perhaps the encroachment of the sea described in

the ~tisikavamsa kavya also increased and swallowed

the temple in course. Therefore the Buddhists of

Srimulavasam in central Kerala spanned out to the

neighbouring villages where they got isolated and

stagnant, without the support of incoming rich

traders from Srilanka, and surrounded by the

hostile Hindu community. this must have led them

gradually to get absorded in the Hindu community of

Eehavas enaaged in toddy tapping and petty trade.

There might have been no difficulty for the

Jain temple priests and temple servants to join the

Hindu fold. Having developed in the game

circumstances, the followers of these religions

worahipped the same deities. So most of them might

8 have returned to Hinduism . But, though Hindus

accepted those who had returned, they were

given only an inferior etatus. There is a strong

opinion that the Pisharati community of Kerula is

the product of such reconversion. They have their

own customs and rituals which are quite distinct

from those of other Hindus.

It is said that the Clkyara, who present the

forms of art such as Kiittu and KCdiySttpm, came

from the &kya origin. The term 'CZkyar' can be

derived from the word '!%kyav means Buddhists 9

CikyHrs who are proficient in Sanskrit language are

goods echolars in Prakrit also. These made us to

8.The Cult of Goddess Pattini,op.cit.pp.519,520.

9 . Gundert, A Malayalam and Enpliah Dictionary, Plangalore, 1872. p.352.

believe that CGkyPrs were the followers of the

Buddhism who went back to the Brahmanikal fold at

some stage.

The popular view about the origin of the

Ezhavas, a strong community in Kerala, is that

their ancestors were Buddhist emigrants from

10 Srilanka . The term Ezhava is derived from the

word Simhala. l1 The land of Simhala was also

ref erred to as ~zhattunadu". Another term which

is used to denote this community is 'Tiyya'. This

10. Buddhism in Kerala, op. cit, p. 126.

11. A Malayalam and English Dictionary, op. cit, p. 121.

Some scholars derive this term from 'Ulava'. Sarvavijnana Kosam, Vol. IV, Trivandrun, 1978. p. 559

See also P.K. Gopalakrishnan Keralathinte Samskarika Caritram, Trivandrum, 1991. p. 290.

12. Malayalam Lexicon, Vol. I 1 Trivandrum, 1970 p. 463.

is from ' ~ i v a * , t h e cor rup ted form of ' ~ v l p a . 1 3 ,

They a r e i n t i m a t e l y connected w i th coconut t r e e s

which a r e t h e main sou rce of a g r i c u l t u r a l c rops i n

era la. l 4 Thie assumption is baaed not on conc re t e

evidences but on ly i n s t o r i e s and t r a d i t i o n s .

Seve ra l Devi temples oE Kerala l i k e K a l l i l

and C i t a r a l were once J a i n temples. Th is change

waa ano the r consequence of convers ion t o Hinduism

by t h e J a i n s who l o s t t h e i r pa t rons under changed

c i rcumstances .

When Buddhism dec l ined some of t h e

Buddhis ts of Kerala might have migrated i n t o S r i

Lanka. The grounds f o r thie i n f e r e n c e a r e as >

fol lowa:

1. "The Kerala f a m i l i e s e f f e c t i v e l y c o n t r o l l e d t h e

Ues te rn , Southern , and Northern p a r t s of the

c e n t r a l p rov inces of Sr i Lanka f o r more t han 50

13. A Malayalam and Engl ish D ic t i ona ry , op. c i t , p. 462.

1 4 . "Images of man:" op. c i t , p . 5 2 .

years. According to Obeyesekhere, they were

originally merchants from Vanchi and probably came

to Sri Lanka about 1100 A.D'~.

2. The climatic conditions of Ceylon are like

those of Kerala and so it was the most suitable

place for those who went away from Kerala.

Alakakonar and the Mehnavar families who had great

political influence in Ceylon, are immigrants from

Halabar. 16

Kerala chieftains, and very likely other

Kerala immigrants, were well established in the

area of the Western, Southern and Sabargamuva

provinces by the middle of the 14th century.

A section of people in Jaffna still maintains

the system of matrilineal succession. Hair-style

on the front side of the head which was a custom

followed exclusively by Keralites has also been

found in Jaffna. The thdda worn by the women and

15. The Cult of Goddess Pattini, op.cit.,,p. 526.

16. Ibid, p. 527. See also. M.D. Raghavan, India in Ceylonese

History, Society And Culture. Madras. p.150.

Kadukkan worn by the men reveal the Keralite

influence. South Indians wear dhotis in a peculiar

manner, and the same style is found to be in

practice at Jaffna. There are also similarities in

cooking and the preparation of curries by the

Keralites and the people in Jaffna. The marriage

customs followed by the communities in Jaffna is

exactly similar to the practice in Kerala. Both

are known by the term Sambandham. Theae

similarities must be duo to the migration of

Buddhists from Kerala to 'Sri Lanka. ,17

On the basis of the above facts it can be

inferred that the Buddhists and Jains who were

forced to leave Kerala made a silent withdrawal, so

that the only traces of their pockets are confined

to converted or neglected shrines or scattered

images, along with a few inscriptions which

recorded the gifts received in happier times.

17. K.K. Pillai, South India and Sri Lanka, pp. 163, 166.

See for detail8 Ibid 152-156 .