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Sastha and Buddha: Buddhist Vestiges in Southern Western Ghats of Kerala

// May 20th, 2012 // No Comments » // Culture and Ecology

Buddhist vestige at Kallupacha, RPL Estate, Kulathupuzha. Carved into a fine granite boulder with three doorways

The western foothills of the southern ranges in the Western Ghats are known for ancient and popular Sastha Temples of Kerala.  Sabarimala, Achankovil, Ariankavu, Kulathupuzha and Sasthamkotta are prominent Dharma Sastha or Ayyappa temples located in and around this region.  Their proximity to the Tamil Country in the east and Malakootam or Malaya Kootam/Parvatham (Now Agasthya Kootam) in the south are remarkable.  Malaya Kootam is still called Pothiyil Mala (variation of Boddhiyil Mala) and it was also called Pothalaka in Buddhist lore, the seat of the Avalokiteswara Boddhisatva.  It is a ghat region revered by the Hindus and the Buddhists alike.

Kattalapara Buddhist vestige. near Shenduruny sanctuary, Kulathupuzha. Abandoned due to poor stone quality. Now three doorways are worshiped as representing Hindu, Christian and Islamic religions

Dharma Sastha is a synonym for the Buddha.  Ayyappan is an Avalokiteswaran later Hinduized and appropriated by Brahmanism in the early middle ages as an offspring born out of the Siva-Vishnu union.  The metamorphosis of this deity through the violent conflicts and negotiations  involving  Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism) Saivism and Vaishnavism is evident in the legend.  In the Tamil Country Pali words Ayyan, Appan, Achan, Ayyappan and Puthan refer to the enlightend one at least from BC third century.

Kottukal rock cut temple, near Anchal.

Vajrayana used various Avalokiteswaras and Boddhisatva idols with consorts to popularize the cult and it was easy for Brahmanism to appropriate it overnight. Like the Buddha Nilakandha temple of Nepal or the Padmanabha temple of Thiruvananthapuram the Ayyappa temples were easily modified into Hindu Brahmanical ones.  Some scholars also argue that Tantric Buddhism itself was a clever deviation made by the Brahmanical usurpers who joined the Buddhist Sangha for the gradual sabotage as the basic teachings of the compassionate one challenged Brahmanism and caste.

Ariankavu Ayyappa temple at the eastern end of Kollam pass close to Tamilakam

The Buddhist rock cut vestiges in and around the Kulathupuzha forests prove the early presence of missionaries in the Kollam pass well before the advent of the common era.  It can be assumed that they entered the western slopes of the Western Ghats through the Ariankavu pass and established their Pallys and Pallykootams in the lower foothills. The rock cut constructions in Kallupacha in RPL estate in Kulathupuzha and Kattalapara close to the Shenduruny sanctuary are still surviving relics of early Buddhist rock architecture.

Kulathupuzha Sastha temple. The idol represents a Kulanthai or boy

The same architectural pattern and style of carving are found in the rock temple at Kottukal near Anchal.  As the first two vestiges are inside plantations and forests they are almost in abandoned state but the Kottukal rock cut temple is modified into a Siva temple by later Saivism that entered Kerala in the 8th and 9th centuries.  It also shows remarkable resemblance to Kaviyur rock temple near Thiruvalla and Kallil Jain temple near Perumbavur.

River Kallada at Kulathupuzha temple. Location of fish-feeding, an ancient conservationist practice related to Buddhism and Jainism as in Triprayar

It is interesting to note that the bigger shrines close to important mountain routes and the popular ones were transformed into bigger Hindu temples while the smaller vestiges and rock carvings were neglected and forgotten in the jungle.  On June 1, 2011 the Hindu published an article on the report of Dr Rajendran an archeologist who surveyed the region.  According to him these vestiges are related to early Buddhism that reached Kerala in the last centuries of BC era and the whole Ariankavu, Kulathupuzha, Ponmudi belt still holds the relics of this early Buddhist cultural  intervention.

Mahamaya/Mayadevi in Kulthupuzha in classic Yakshi stance with a mirror in hand and leaning onto a tree. Mahamaya is the mother of Buddha who is the central deity in Kilirur and Neelamperur

According to Dr Rajendran Malsya Mudra or fish signs are identified in the carving sites that prove the Buddhist identity of the makers.  In Kulathupuzha fish-feeding is also an important ritual that is still practiced showing the Buddhist conservationist spirit of the shrine.  Such practices of conservation are still sustaining in many temples all over Kerala as in Thriprayar in Thrissur district.  Naga deities and Mahamaya (mother of the Buddha) idol are also worshiped in Kulathupuzha.

Naga deities in Kulathupuzha Sastha temple

I visited the region on 18th and 19th May 2012 and got the opportunity to see and experience the unique ecology and cultural traces related to the ancient conservationist traditions of Kerala.  The Thenmala eco-tourism project and rivers Kallada and Kallar along with the numerous life forms offer plenty of learning experiences for the seeking.

Indilayaappan idol. An ambiguous deity in Ariankavu Ayyappa shrine, showing the Vajrayan, Saiva and Vaishnava scramble

Buddha Poornima at Thirunavaya

// May 9th, 2012 // No Comments » // Cultural Politics, Culture and Ecology

Super Moon of Buddha Poornima 2012 reflected in river Perar or Nila at Thirunavaya. May 6, 2012

The full moon day of Vaisakha is celebrated in all the Asian countries as the birthday of the Buddha.  Vaisakha Paurnami or Buddha Poornima is conceived as representing the birth, enlightenment and the passing away of the compassionate one.  It was a lifetime opportunity for me to watch the super moon of 2012 Buddha Poornima, rise in the eastern horizon on the banks of the Nila or ancient Perar.  Coincidentally I witnessed the unusually big moon at Thirunavaya on the northern bank of the river while returning from the ancient port city of Ponnani that forms the mouth of the river Perar where it drains into the mighty Arabian Sea.

Nila or Perar at Thirunavaya. Early 2012

Thirunavaya is known for its religious and historical significances.  It is the location of the ancient carnival called Mamankam.  In the middle ages it deteriorated into a bloody feud between the Zamorin of Calicut and the Valluva Konathiri or Vellatiri of Valluvanad.  But before the 10th century it was a great cultural and spiritual festival related to the Sramana democratic traditions of ancient Kerala.  Historians like P K Gopalakrishnan, Velayudhan Panikkassery and V V K Valath argue that it was a great Buddhist festival originally called Mahamargolsavam.  Maha Margam is nothing but the way of the Buddha or the Dhama Pada.

But after the Brahmanic take over and spiritual hijacking that happened between the sixth and ninth centuries it degraded into a petty competition between the regional local chieftains resulting in bloody duels and the massacre of the suicidal militia called Chaver. The barbarism and violence involved in the establishment of the Savarna Brahmanical high culture in Kerala could be read in the vulgar decadence of this ancient carnival in Kerala.  The well used to dump the bodies of the militia (Mani Kinar), the platform used by the kings (Nilapadu Thara) and the Changampally Kalari (school of martial arts) are still surviving here.

Buddha Poornima or Vaisakha Paurnami an image of the birth, enlightenment and Mahaparinibana/demise of the Buddha

Thirunavaya is also associated with the transition from Sramana culture to Brahmanical one.  Keralolpathy and other Brahmanical texts testify that it was here that the Buddhists were defeated in verbal combats and their texts burned and tongues cut by the pedantic perverts of  elite barbarism.  Radical Malayalam scholars like P Pavithran argue that the ‘Nava’ reference in the place name is linked to this hoary episode in Kerala history.  Conventional interpretations associate it with the Navagraha Yogis who performed the installation in the Navamukunda temple.  Some versions also talk about the repetition of the installation that happened nine times .  Whatever may be the etymological root of the place name it is inextricably linked to the cultural pasts of Kerala.  The pulled or plucked tongue of the Chamana become a key icon of cultural hegemony and the resistance of the silenced.

Thirunavaya offers the best views of Nila or Perar.  The Mamankam memorials and the old temples make it a historically and architecturally rich cultural location. I had a long and enlightening conversation with Mr Rajiv, a police officer who patrols the region as illegal sand mining is ruining the river and the ecology.  We talked about the early human settlements and civilizations on the banks of the Perar and ventured deep into the history and cultural pasts of the region.  We watched the super moon climbing like poetry in the dark blue canvas of the starry night.  It was a great and meaningful dialogue with a sensitive and informed fellow being and we really enjoyed the time. When we parted it was almost 9pm and I rode to Kuttippuram, five kilometers east, where I am currently residing in a rented quarters.