Seeking Buddha in Gujarat

Known more for Hindu and Jain religious places, Gujarat is now hoping to play host to Buddhist pilgrims too.

While in January this year, Chief Minister Narendra Modi shared the dais with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the International Seminar on Buddhist Heritage at Vadodara, the state's tourism department is now trying hard to promote the "Buddhist Footprints in Gujarat" through its website.

The earliest archeological evidence of Buddhism in Gujarat dates back to Emperor Ashoka's reign (269–232 BC). Saurashtra finds a mention in early Buddhist literature such as the Indriya Jataka, Milinda Panha, Petavatthu, etc. In the sixth century, Bhattarkka, a general of the Gupta Emperors, established an independent principality around Valabhi (Vallabhipur). He was a devout Shaivite but the Maitraka rulers that followed him, though Hindus themselves were great patrons of Buddhism. On his visit to Gujarat in 640 AD, Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang noted the presence of 200 monasteries housing 10,000 monks at Bharuch, Atali, Kheta, Valabhi, Anandapura and Surashtra. Both Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism were prevalent in Gujarat.

The following are some of the main Buddhist archeological sites in Gujarat:

Vadnagar, Mahesana

Nearly 128 km from Ahmedabad, the archeological site between River Banas and River Rupen, has a 12-cell structure that belonged to a Buddhist vihara or monastery and housed monks from the 2nd to 4th century AD. Hiuen Tsang, who visited Vadnagar (then known as Anandapur) in the 7th century, reported that the city had some 10 sangharams (resting places for Buddhist monks) with a 1,000 Buddhist monks. Archaeologists found around 2,000 artefacts including a Buddha idol, an amphora, figurines, a crucible, a grinding stone, seals, a terracotta head wearing a turban, shell bangles, necklace beads, copper and silver coins that are housed at the Museum of Archaeology at the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara.

Perched atop the Taranga Hills nearby, is a shrine dedicated to Devi Taranmata. The idols of Taranmata and Dharanmata are of Buddhist Goddess Tara, the "Mother of all Buddhas," which usually refers to the enlightened wisdom of the Buddhas. In the Dharanmata Temple, over the halo behind the head of the marble sculpture of the Goddess Tara, is a lotus on which rests the Amitabh Buddha. The lower register of the sculpture also displays the symbolic representation of the Buddha in form of an elephant, a horse and a chakra.

Devnimori, Sabarkantha

Better known for its hotsprings, Devnimori located 132 km from Ahmedabad has a large Buddhist establishment that dates back to the period between 2nd and 7th centuries AD. King Ashoka is said to have erected as many as 80,000 stupas across India. He unearthed the ashes of Buddha from their original place and distributed them across the country, building stupas accordingly. One such stupa, from the 4th century was excavated in early 1960s at Devnimori. Close to the major trade routes of Mewar and Dungarpur, Devnimori was the site of an important Buddhist monastic centre 1,600 years ago. The mahastupa's still there but the relics including a casket containing Buddha's ashes and 17 terracotta statues of Buddha are now housed in the Department of Archaeology at The Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara.

A prominent Buddhist centre since Ashoka's reign, Junagadh district is sprinkled with rock-cut-caves, monasteries and stupas at 15-odd sites such as the Ashokan rock edict at Girnar, Baba Pyara Caves, Khapra Kodia caves, Upparkot caves, Panheswer Caves, Mai Gadechi, Matri, structural monastery at Intawa, brick stupa at Bordevi and Vajrapanat, Sana caves, caves around Prabhas Patan, Mandor Caves and Savni-Gir.

Buddhist caves, about 2000 years old, are among the oldest monuments at Uparkot. Carved out of monolithic rock, these three-tiered caves are famous for their exquisite art.

In its bid to attract more tourists, Gujarat tourism department has decided to promote Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the state. Amitabh Bachchan is expected to shoot ad campaign this month promoting lesser known Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Gujarat.

This is part of tourism department's continues effort to increase tourist arrivals in the state. The tourism department is also going to raise awarness about Buddhist pilgrimage and long roots of Buddhism in Gujarat through its own website.

Buddhism in Gujarat dates long back to the days of Emperor Ashoka. There are plenty of monasteries and Buddhist caves in Gujarat especially in the Junagadh district. With the help of Amitabh Bachchan, Gujarat wants to attract tourists to these sites. Over the years, Gujarat's government has improved infrastructure to these sites and plans more development to make things easy for the tourists. One such site is Khambhalida Caves, the 4the Century Buddhist caves near Rajkot.

The aim is to woo more foreign tourists especially from the Buddhist countries like Japan andChina. Gujarat may be attracting around 20 million tourists, but the count of foreign tourists is quite low to around 320,000. With the help of Buddhist sites, Gujarat hopes to change that.

Buddhist Caves

The so-called “Buddhist Caves” around Uparkot are not actually caves, but three separate sites of rooms carved out of stone to be used as monks’ quarters, hence the name. They are all a little over 2000 years old, give or take a couple of centuries.

The oldest, the Khapara Kodia caves caves belong to 3rd-4th century AD and are plainest of all cave groups. These caves are along the edge of the ancient Sudarshan Lake (which no longer exists) and the northern side of Uparkot. The chambers are separated into an east-west longitudinal crest. The rectangle western wing and the ‘L’ shaped wing used by the Monks as a monsoon shelter, are the important parts of the caves. They were carved into living rock during the reign of Emperor Ashoka and are considered the earliest monastic settlement in the area. After many years of use, they were abandoned because cracks above them allowed water to seep into living quarters, rendering them unusable. Many accounts say that after this, the monks left for Maharashtra, where they went on to carve many similar and more elaborate structures. Khapara Kodia was damaged by later quarrying, and now only the highest story remains.

Across Uparkot from Khapara Kodia are the caves of Baba Pyara. Baba Pyara caves are lying close to the Modhimath, which has four caves in its northern group. The next set of south group caves has a unified plan with a spacious court and a chaitya hall. The art tradition of Satavahanas period has influence over these cave pillars and door jambs of the caves. It is believed that they belong to 1st – 2nd century AD. These have 13 rooms in three stories, cut into the rock 45 m. (150 ft.) high and adorned with carvings of Buddhist symbology. These are much more intact than the Khapara Kodia caves. The last (and most recent, being only 1900 years old) caves are next to the Adi-Kadi Vav.

JUNAGADH Few places offer you the chance to probe the earth and the heavens, the human and the wild, as Junagadh does. Towering over the city is Mt. Girnar, a holy site for Hindus and Jains that is climbed by a 9999-step staircase along peaks studded by temples that reach for the sky and look out across the plains. Walking up these stairs in pilgrimage is a unique experience of striving towards the heavens. Back at the base of the mountain, however, deep in the heart of the oldest quarter of the city, you can walk down into the depths of the earth in a pair of ancient stepwells that were not built, but hewn out of solid rock. Spiraling down the staircase of thousand-year-old Navghan Kuvo, plunging 170 feet into the heart of solid rock to find life-giving water at the bottom, is an unparalleled contact with the elements that sustain us. In the city of Junagadh, you can reach out and touch the two and a half millennia of human civilization, spanning dominant periods of Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, all of whom left deep imprints on the city. And then you can set off for the Gir National Park to come face to face with the utter wildness of the last of Asiatic Lions, where human civilization is still just incidental to the natural rhythms that have continued for centuries. Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi today visited his hometown and birth place Vadnagar in north Gujarat. Modi’s main agenda was to attend a Swaminarayan function here, however he also took time to visit Buddhist archaeological excavation site in Vadnagar. Gujarat state’s archaeological Director Shri Y.S.Rawat narrated details of excavation and its findings to the Chief Minister. Vadnagar is witnessing archeological excavation at various sites for last five years under the guidance of Chief Minister Modi who in reference to Buddhist findings at Vadnagar today said that Vadnagar is not showing up history of war but is showing up history of spirituality and culture. ndhinagar, DeshGujarat,11 October, 2008 Gujarat State Archaeological Department has discovered a small size Buddhist monastery in Gujarat’s Vadnagar. Vadnagar is a small fort town located in northern part of Gujarat, the most prosperous state in India. Walls of discovered monastery were built using bricks. 55 by 55 ft size Monastery had total 12 cells for residual purpose of monks. Entrance was on Northern direction. Small drain was found at South-West corner. Monastery was built on a plinth. Excavation in southern direction is yet to begin. Possibility of finding Shrine cell and Buddha idol in southern side excavation is high. In the course of two years of excavation, so far more than 2000 pieces of Archaeological importance are found from Ghaskol Darwaja excavation site in Vadnagar including 2000 years old house, numerous clay utensils, silver coins, beads, ornaments, Roman style head sculpture, turbaned face clay plaque, votive tablet, head sculpture, plaque sculpture depicting Buddha, Parts of vessel on which Buddhism related words are written in Brahmi script. When contacted Gujarat State Archaeology Superintendent Dr. Yadubirsingh Rawat(Y.S.Rawat) said “This Buddhist monastery probably belongs to 2nd to 4th century era. It was probably in use for 300 years. After two years of excavation first we unearthed the monastery structure. For a brief time it remained a mysterious structure for us as we couldn’t figure out it’s motive. After some research, observations and studies we are now at confirm conclusion that this was a Buddhist monastery.” Decades back in Gujarat, when double size Devni Mori Buddhist monastery was discovered, ditto lay-out plane was found there. Devni Mori Buddhist monastery also had northern side entrance, South-Western drain, open plot in centre and 29 cells for monks around the central plot(Vadnagar monastery has 12). Though Devni Mori site latter submerged in Meshwo river, it’s lay out plan which resembles Vadnagar monastery’s plan is available with Archaeology department. Chinese traveler Hieun Tsanghad visited Vadnagar between 640 to 644 A.D. and documented presence of 1,000 Buddhist monks and 10 Buddhist monasteries in and around Vadnagar town known as Anandpur in that era. Decades back, a sculpture of Bhagvan Buddha was found from Vadnagar which was then placed in Vadnagar museum for permanent exhibition. Idea of archaeological excavation at Vanagar was moved by none other but Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi himself as he belongs to this town. Narendra Modi had judged Vadnagar as a prolific site for archaeological excavation in early days of his life when he was a resident of Vadnagar.

Background The city of Junagadh, along with Mt. Girnar that looks down upon it, appear in stories and hearsay from long ago, beginning with associations with Krishna during his life in Saurashtra. Reportedly, the main center of the city, the fort known as Uparkot, was built by Chandragupta of the Mauryan empire around 320 BC, and archaeological evidence confirms this, showing that Uparkot has been inhabited continuously since the 3rd century BC. Hence the name Junagadh, which means “ancient fort.” Under the Mauryans, Junagadh was a regional capital, and Emperor Ashoka had stone edicts placed there, still visible today Junagadh remained important as a regional capital until the 5th century. Then under the Rajputs and Solankis it was less important, as power centers shifted to near Bhavnagar (until the 10th century), later to Patan (until the 15th century), where it stayed when the whole of Gujarat became a province of the Delhi Sultanate, and then to Ahmedabad when Gujarat again became an independent Sultanate. The Mughals took over in the early 16th century, and continued to rule from Ahmedabad, so it was not until the mid 18th century as Mughal rule was in decline that Junagadh once again became an independent princely state, established by an Afghan named Sher Khan Babi, with its capital here. By the time of Independence from British colonial rule, all the princely states (which numbered 565, and around a hundred were in Saurashtra alone) were given the choice of acceding to India or to Pakistan, with Mountbatten’s caveat that effectively, states could only accede to a nation with whom they shared borders. This determined the choice for nearly all of them. In Junagadh, however, the Nawab opted to accede to Pakistan, saying Junagadh neighbored Pakistan through the sea. India objected, given the 80% Hindu majority, but Pakistan countered that if India could claim Kashmir, with a Muslim majority but a leader who chose India, why should Junagadh not be in Pakistan. After several backs and forths involving uprisings by some parts of Junagadh state, Indian troops being sent in, and many diplomatic maneuvers, the Nawab fled to Pakistan, and a plebiscite was held. The vote overwhelmingly favored joining India, and Junagadh became a part of Saurashtra state, and eventually part of Gujarat. MNATH In the Shivapurana and the Nandi Upapurana, Lord Shiva is quoted as saying, 'I am omnipresent, but I am especially in twelve forms and places.' These places are known as jyotirlingas, and Somnath is the first to be found in the world. Around the linga the moon god Soma built a mythical temple of gold as an ode to Lord Shiva's glory and compassion. Like the waxing and waning moon, and fittingly for a place associated with Lord Shiva's cosmic dance of creative destruction, the Somnath temple has risen unfailingly from repeated acts of devastation. On Kartik Sud 14 in the Hindu calendar, the day of Shiva's son Kartikeya's birth, a fair is held for four days at the shrine of Somnath. Millions of devotees converge here for these ebullient celebrations on the shores of the Arabian Sea. Background According to Puranic legend, Soma, the moon, married 27 sisters, but stubbornly favored one to the neglect of the others. Their father, Daksha Prajapati, therefore cursed him to have his brilliance consumed by the darkness of night. Stricken with grief, the moon went to holy places, trying to alleviate his pain, but to no avail. At last he came here and worshipped Shiva with great devotion for 4000 years. Shiva took pity on him and bade that he should wane in brilliancy for only 15 days in a month, recovering his lost splendor in the following fortnight. Overcome with gratitude, the moon erected a golden temple to Shiva over the previously existing jyotirlinga. As the moon regained his brilliancy, bhas, at this site, it was named Prabhas, which means "the exceedingly brilliant." The temple came to be known as exceptionally auspicious--people suffering from incurable diseases were reported cured after simply touching the linga. In the Mahabharata, Krishna advised the Yadavas that a pilgrimage to Somnath would absolve them of Durvasa's curse. Another legend tells that not far from Somnath is a place where Krishna, reclining under a pipal tree, was shot in the foot by a Bhil huntsman named Jara who had mistaken him for a deer. Limping a long way eastward, Krishna was able to reach the bank of the river Hiranya just above the triveni sangam (meeting place of three rivers), and breathed his last in a small cave. His body was taken to the triveni sangam and cremated there. The site where he was shot is known as Bhalka Tirtha, and the site of his cremation, near a temple to Mahakali, is called Dehotsarg. The first historical temple at Somnath is believed to have been built between 320 and 500 AD. As it grew in importance due to the stories above, pilgrims converged at the temple to offer whatever they could, kings bestowed riches upon it, and the town and temple flourished with great wealth. The temple was destroyed a few times during its first several centuries, but little details are available about the successive destructions and reconstructions. In the 11th century AD, the Sunni Muslim iconoclast Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030), sacked the temple and returned to Ghazna in eastern Afghanistan with the temple treasures, including the famed silver gate. Then, after a rebuilding, in 1297 AD Allaudin Khilji's commander-inchief Afzal Khan destroyed the structure. Over the next 500 years, the temple was successively reconstructed and ransacked, by Muzzafar Shah I in 1390, by Muhammad Begda in 1490, Muzzafar II in 1530 and Aurangzeb in 1706. In 1783 Maharani Ahalyabai Holkar of Indore built another Somnath temple next to the original site, which was in serious disrepair. After Independence, Sardar Patel visited Somnath, was deeply moved by the poor condition of the original temple site, and resolved to renovate it as soon as possible. In 1951, the new temple was constructed on the original grounds, next to the 18th-century construction of Holkar's. The remains of the old temple are now preserved in a museum for public view. The jyotirlinga was installed by then-President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, in 1950 AD. The overall look reminds one of a Solanki temple in the manner of Modhera, due to the efforts of Sardar Patel, whose statue stands outside. Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi today visited his hometown and birth place Vadnagar in north Gujarat. Modi’s main agenda was to attend a Swaminarayan function here, however he also took time to visit Buddhist archaeological excavation site in Vadnagar. Gujarat state’s archaeological Director Shri Y.S.Rawat narrated details of excavation and its findings to the Chief Minister. Vadnagar is witnessing archeological excavation at various sites for last five years under the guidance of Chief Minister Modi who in reference to Buddhist findings at Vadnagar today said that Vadnagar is not showing up history of war but is showing up history of spirituality and culture. ndhinagar, DeshGujarat,11 October, 2008 Gujarat State Archaeological Department has discovered a small size Buddhist monastery in Gujarat’s Vadnagar. Vadnagar is a small fort town located in northern part of Gujarat, the most prosperous state in India. Walls of discovered monastery were built using bricks. 55 by 55 ft size Monastery had total 12 cells for residual purpose of monks. Entrance was on Northern direction. Small drain was found at South-West corner. Monastery was built on a plinth. Excavation in southern direction is yet to begin. Possibility of finding Shrine cell and Buddha idol in southern side excavation is high. In the course of two years of excavation, so far more than 2000 pieces of Archaeological importance are found from Ghaskol Darwaja excavation site in Vadnagar including 2000 years old house, numerous clay utensils, silver coins, beads, ornaments, Roman style head sculpture, turbaned face clay plaque, votive tablet, head sculpture, plaque sculpture depicting Buddha, Parts of vessel on which Buddhism related words are written in Brahmi script. When contacted Gujarat State Archaeology Superintendent Dr. Yadubirsingh Rawat(Y.S.Rawat) said “This Buddhist monastery probably belongs to 2nd to 4th century era. It was probably in use for 300 years. After two years of excavation first we unearthed the monastery structure. For a brief time it remained a mysterious structure for us as we couldn’t figure out it’s motive. After some research, observations and studies we are now at confirm conclusion that this was a Buddhist monastery.” Decades back in Gujarat, when double size Devni Mori Buddhist monastery was discovered, ditto lay-out plane was found there. Devni Mori Buddhist monastery also had northern side entrance, South-Western drain, open plot in centre and 29 cells for monks around the central plot(Vadnagar monastery has 12). Though Devni Mori site latter submerged in Meshwo river, it’s lay out plan which resembles Vadnagar monastery’s plan is available with Archaeology department. Chinese traveler Hieun Tsanghad visited Vadnagar between 640 to 644 A.D. and documented presence of 1,000 Buddhist monks and 10 Buddhist monasteries in and around Vadnagar town known as Anandpur in that era. Decades back, a sculpture of Bhagvan Buddha was found from Vadnagar which was then placed in Vadnagar museum for permanent exhibition. Idea of archaeological excavation at Vanagar was moved by none other but Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi himself as he belongs to this town. Narendra Modi had judged Vadnagar as a prolific site for archaeological excavation in early days of his life when he was a resident of Vadnagar.