Buddhism among Tamils in pre-colonial Tamilakam and lam: Prologue.

An inscription from Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka dated to 2nd century BC records the association of Tamil merchants with Buddhist institution.

According to A.J.V.

Chandrakanthan who recently (2019) published an article about an 11th-century comparative work named VEERASOLIYAM, codifying Tamil and Sanskrit Philology and Poetics is a clear indicator of the prominence given to Buddhism in Tamil scholarship.

However the pan Saiva revival in Tamilagam in the second half of the second millennium and the Vaishnava resurgence coupled with the Bhakti movement ushered in a new era of religious militancy that virtually eradicated Buddhism forever from the Tamil-speaking regions of the South of India.

One of the classical products of that period is the ancient Tamil Buddhist epic-poem Manimekalai by the celebrated poet Chithalai Chathanar is set in the town of Kaveripattanam.

Buddhism disappeared from this city as of an unknown date but was revived as of the 9th century.

H.P.Ray, The Winds of Change, Delhi 1994, p.

In the 11th century, Chudamani Vihara was built by the Javanese king Sri Vijaya Soolamanivarman with the patronage of Raja Raja Chola I.

The Animangalam Copperplate of Kulothungachola notes that Kasiba Thera Buddhist Monk renovated the Buddhist temple in the 6th century with the help of Buddhist monks of Naga Nadu.

This nagar annam vihar later came to be known as Nagananavigar.

Buddhism flourished until the 15th century and the buildings of the vigara survived until the 18th century.

He visited the city in the 7th century and said that this city was 6 miles in circumference and that its people were famous for bravery and piety as well as for their love of justice and veneration for learning.

He further recorded that Gautama Buddha had visited the place.

It was during the reign of the Pallava dynasty from the 4th to the 9th centuries that Kanchipuram attained its limelight.

The city served as the Pallava capital, and many of the known temples were built during their reign.

According to Tamil tradition, the founder of Zen, Bodhidharma was born here, 6 7 note 1.

There are number of Buddhist myths associated with the interactions of people of this historical place with Buddha.

This Nagadeepa Purana Viharaya was located close to the ancient Nainativu Nagapooshani Amman Temple of Nainativu, one of the Shakti Peethas.

The word Naga was sometimes written in early inscriptions as Nya, as in Nganika - this occurs in the Nanaghat inscription of 150 BCE.

The language of the inscription is Tamil language -Prakrit, which shares several similarities with script inscriptions used in Andhra at the time, when the Telugu Satavahana dynasty was at the height of its power and its 17th monarch Hla (20-24 CE) married a princess from the island.

Peter Schalk writes, Vallipuram has very rich archaeological remains that point at an early settlement.

From already dated stones with which we compare this Vallipuram statue, we can conclude that it falls in the period 3-4 century AD.

During that period, the typical Amaravati-Buddha sculpture was developed.

The Buddha statue found here was given to King of Thailand by the then British Governor Henry Blake in 1906.

Pre-Christian-Buddhist Tamil-Brahmi citation needed inscriptions have been found in the area, the oldest belonging to the 2nd century BCE.

Thiriyai formed a prominent village of Jaffnas Vannimai districts in the medieval period.

The site is home to Mahayana Buddhist vatadage ruins worshipped by the locals during the rise of Tamil Buddhism citation needed in the area.

During Paramesvaravarman I s reign, the famous Tiriyai Pallava Grantha inscriptions of 7th-8th century Tamilakam were recorded in the village.

See BodhidharmaBirthplace sources for an extensive overview of possible origins, and the reliability of the sources provided for these possible origins.

II, July 1991, pp.

Available online at 3 Archived 24 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine.

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