Will the Real Rahula please stand up

Sri Lanka is the oldest continually Buddhist country, Theravada Buddhism being the major religion in the island since its official introduction in the 2nd century BC by Venerable Mahinda, the son of the Emperor Ashoka of India during the reign of King Devanampiya- Tissa. Later, the nun Sanghamitta, the daughter of Asoka, was said to have brought the southern branch of the original Bodhi tree, where it was planted at Anuradhapura. From that day up to the present, the Buddhists in Sri Lanka have paid and are paying the utmost reverence to this branch of the Bodhi Tree under the shade of which the Master achieved Enlightenment.

Monks from Sri Lanka have had an important role in spreading both Theravada and Mahayana throughout South-east Asia. It was in Sri Lanka, in the 1st century AD during the reign of King Vatta Gamini that the Buddhist monks assembled in Aloka-Vihara and wrote down the Tripitaka, the three basket of the Teachings, known as the Pali scriptures for the first time. It was Sri Lankan nuns who introduced the Sangha of nuns into China in 433AD. In the 16th century the Portuguese conquered Sri Lanka and savagely persecuted Buddhism as did the Dutch who followed them.

When the British won control at the beginning of the 19th century Buddhism was well into decline, a situation that encouraged the English missionaries that then began to flood the island. But against all expectations the monastic and lay community brought about a major revival from about 1860 onwards, a movement that went hand in hand with growing nationalism.

Since then Buddhism has flourished and Sri Lankan monks and expatriate lay people have been prominent in spreading Theravada Buddhism in Asia, the West and even in Africa.

Some of the most marvellous monuments in the Buddhist world belong to Sri Lanka, and her sculpture is closely associated with the early art of the Krishna valley and the later Pallava and Chola kings, owing to the close relationship that existed between south India and Sri Lanka. (above: Seven-metre-tall standing image of the Buddha in a rare cross-armed pose at Gal Vihara).

According to the Sri Lankan chronicles, the Mahavamsa, one of Ashoka's sons, the monk Mahinda, supervised construction of monastic buildings nearAnuradhapura. Simultaneously, he sent to India for relics. These, say the histories, included the Buddha's alms bowl andhis right collarbone. Later a hair relic, and in the 4th century AD, the Buddha's tooth would be taken to Sri Lanka. The tooth is still preserved in Kandy where daily rituals venerate the Buddha's tooth relic in Temple of the Tooth Relic, Kandy 16th Century.

To house the relics, stupas were built. Standing at 300 feet, Ruwanweliseya, or the "Great Stupa" is regarded as one of the most important stupas at Anuradhapura in north-central Sri Lanka: Much restored, the great dome, circled with old columns, is still to be seen in Anuradhapura, now a great park. During major festivals it is crowded with hundreds of thousands of devotees in family groups, who picnic happily among the ruins and offer puja at the Bodhi tree. There are other important monuments nearby at Mihintale, the site of Mahinda's first sermon to King Devanampiya-Tissa. The ruins of the later capital at Polonnaruwa (9th century AD onwards), showing Hindu and Mahayana cultic influence, are yet more elaborate.

The stupa in Sri Lanka is a circular drum on a square base with a long succession of compressed umbrellas forming a conical top over a box-shaped harmika, of which the Ruwanweliseya stupa, (above right) at Anuradhapura (3rd century BC) is a fine example. Religious paradigm shift from Indian Theravada Buddhism,Mahayana & Hindu-Brahmanism into Sri Lankan Buddhism. This religious paradigm shift occurred in Mainland of South East Asia post 12 th century AD

⦁ Sukhothai (1238-1438), ⦁ Ayuthaya (1350-1767), ⦁ Pagan (1044-1287) especially mid and late era, ⦁ Ava (Inwa: 1364-1555), ⦁ Arakan (1287-1785), ⦁ Taungoo (1510–1599), ⦁ Kongbon (1752-1885), ⦁ Hanthawaddy Pegu (1287-1539, 1550-52), ⦁ Shan state-(1287-1563), ⦁ Lanna (1292-1775), ⦁ Lan Xang (1354-1707), ⦁ Tam Porn Link ⦁ (Tambalinga/Tanmaling/Tamballinggam) later Nakorn

⦁ Sri Dharmaraja as Dharmanagari written in Nagarakretagama, and ⦁ Angkorian era (802-1431) especially late era, ⦁ Post-Angkorian era (Chaktomuk, Longvek,

⦁ Oudong, 1431- 1863).

This meant replacement an older faiths i.e. Mahayana Buddhism from India and the Hindu Cults to be supplanted by Theravada Buddhism from Sri Lanka.

Conversion to Buddhism

According to Sinhalese tradition, Buddhism was first brought to Sri Lanka by a mission sent out from eastern India during the reign of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka (c. 273–232 BCE). The leader of the mission to Sri Lanka, Mahendra (Mahinda), is described as Ashoka’s son. Mahendra and his colleagues traveled to the Mihintale hill (the site of some of the earliest inscriptions), 8 miles (13 km) from Anuradhapura. There they chanced to meet the Sinhalese king Tissa, to whom they delivered a sermon on Buddhism. The king was brought into the Buddhist fold, and he invited Mahendra and his

followers to the city. The missionaries were settled in a royal pavilion in the city park of Mahamegha, where they preached first to members of the royal family and then to the common people. Many embraced the new religion, some taking holy orders and joining the Buddhist sangha (community of monks). The king donated the Mahamegha park to the sangha. Meanwhile, the monastery of Mahavihara was established, and it became the prime centre of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Mahendra sent for his sister Sanghamitta, who arrived with a branch of the Bo tree (at Bodh Gaya), under which the Buddha had attained enlightenment. The sapling was ceremonially planted in the city. Sanghamitta founded an order of nuns, and a stupa (shrine), the Thuparamacetiya, was built by the king for popular worship.

Thus, with the founding of these and other institutions, Buddhism became an established religion in Sri Lanka.

Through the conversion of King Tissa and the missionary activity of monks in the villages, by the 2nd century BCE the Sinhalese had accepted Buddhism, and this faith helped produce a unity and consciousness on which subsequent political and economic strength was founded. However, it should be recognized that while the monastic chronicles accord the pride of place to Buddhism, other religions also were practiced on the island. Jainism, for instance, probably represented another major religious tradition, and a Jain monastery is mentioned in the Mahavamsa. The chronicle also indicates the presence of Brahmans—Hindus of the highest social rank—in Sri Lanka.

Early growth and political centralization, c. 200 BCE–1255 CE

Expansion of Buddhism preceded political unification; many of the areas embraced by the new religion were still ruled by a multitude of chiefs. The ruler of Anuradhapura, Duttagamani Abhaya (reigned 161–137 BCE), was preeminent among these chiefs, and, as Buddhism spread, the Anuradhapura kingdom extended its political control over the rest of Sri Lanka.

The Anuradhapura period

The Vijaya dynasty of kings continued, with brief interruptions, until 65 CE, when Vasabha, a member of the Lambakanna royal family, founded the Lambakanna dynasty. The Lambakannas ruled for about four centuries. Their most noteworthy king was Mahasena (reigned 276–303), who constructed many major irrigation systems and championed heterodox Buddhist sects.

A Pandyan invasion from southern India put an end to this dynasty and, briefly, to Sinhalese rule in 432. Dhatusena (reigned 459–477) defeated the Pandyas and reestablished Sinhalese rule with the line of Moriya kings. His son Kashyapa I (reigned 477–495) moved the capital from Anuradhapura to the rock fortress of Sigiriya. After Kashyapa’s dethronement the capital was returned to Anuradhapura.

From the 7th century there was an increase in the involvement of south Indian powers in the island’s politics and in the presence of Tamil mercenaries in and around the capital. Manavamma, a Sinhalese royal fugitive, was placed on the throne in 684 with the support of the Pallava rulers of south India. Manavamma founded the second Lambakanna dynasty, which reigned in Anuradhapura for about 400 years. The dynasty produced a number of distinguished kings, who consolidated and extended Sinhalese

political power. During this period, Sinhalese involvement with southern India was even closer. Sinhalese kings were drawn into the dynastic battles between the Pandyas, Pallavas, and Colas. Invasions from south India to Sri Lanka and retaliatory raids were a recurrent phenomenon. In the 10th century the island’s political and military power weakened because of regional particularism

and internecine warfare; the Colas—hostile because of the Sinhalese alliance with Pandya—attacked and occupied the Sinhalese kingdom in 993 and annexed Rajarata (in the north-central region of Sri Lanka) as a province of the Cola empire. The conquest was completed in 1017, when the Colas seized the southern province of Ruhuna.

The Polonnaruwa period

The Colas occupied Sri Lanka until 1070, when Vijayabahu liberated the island and reestablished Sinhalese power. He shifted the capital eastward to Polonnaruwa, a city that was easier to defend against south Indian attacks and that controlled the route to Ruhuna. The capital remained there for some 150 years. The most colourful king of the Polonnaruwa period was Parakramabahu I (reigned 1153–86), under whom the kingdom enjoyed its greatest prosperity. He followed a strong foreign policy,

dispatching a punitive naval expedition to Myanmar (Burma) and sending the army to invade the Pandyan kingdom; however, these initiatives achieved no permanent success. After Parakramabahu I the throne passed to the Kalinga dynasty, and the influence of south India increased. Nissankamalla (reigned c. 1186–96) was the last effective ruler of this period. The last Polonnaruwa king was Magha (reigned 1215–36), an adventurer from south India who seized power and ruled with severity.

Government and society

Kingship was the unifying political institution in the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods, a symbol of the aims and achievements of the Sinhalese people. The kingship was essentially Brahmanic (hereditary within the priestly social class), with strong Buddhist influences; all the kings were practicing Buddhists and patrons of Buddhist institutions. The support and blessing of the clergy, moreover, were perceived as essential to a peaceful and continuous reign. This connection between

kingship and Buddhism enabled Buddhism to flourish. Kings built, maintained, and endowed many shrines and monasteries, and they intervened to establish order and prevent schism within the Buddhist community. Nobles and commoners too were lavish in their support, and thus Buddhist institutions prospered. Many beautiful temples were built with finely carved sculpture, and monasteries thrived as centres of learning in the Pali and Sinhalese languages and in Buddhist philosophy.

Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka: vatadage

The vatadage, a structure to house a relic of the Buddha, in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, 12th century.==

The king was supported by an inner administrative hierarchy consisting of members of his family and influential nobles. The yuvaraja, the king’s chosen heir to the throne, was given responsible office. The army was the major prop of royal absolutism, and the senapati, or commander in chief, was the king’s closest counselor and confidant. Sinhalese society was segmented into social classes—castes—each of which performed a particular occupation. (The caste system in Sri Lanka, however, was not as rigid as its counterpart in India.)

The Govi, or cultivators, made up the highest caste in Sri Lanka, but many other castes also engaged in farming. Administrative officials were drawn from the Govi caste, which was stratified into chiefs, titled men, and peasants. Chiefs were important supporters of royal absolutism and helped administer the government. Nonagricultural people, the Hina, were considered of lower rank and were divided into occupational groups. These caste groups were endogamous; each lived in its own section, along particular streets. Castes were stratified in terms of status, with the lowest on the scale—the candala—performing the most menial of jobs.

==The advent and impact of irrigation

The Sinhalese civilization was hydraulic, based on the storage and use of water for the regular cultivation of wet fields. The early Indo-Aryan settlers cultivated rice and settled along river valleys and other suitable lands. They began with simple schemes for damming rivers and storing water below them. Small systems for storing water in reservoirs by tapping seasonal streams later became a feature of nearly every village; these waterworks probably were managed communally by the landowners of the village. With the increase in royal power, the attraction of greater revenue through greater production made kings play an active role in the construction of large-scale irrigation schemes. Beginning about the 1st century CE during the reign of King Vasabha,

large perennial rivers were blocked with massive earthen dams to create colossal reservoirs. With increasingly sophisticated irrigation technology, water from these reservoirs was delivered through canals to distant fields and through underground channels to the capital city. Two Initial Locations of Theravada Buddhism in Ancient Southeast Asia

Buddhism in Sri Lanka tradition was introduced into Suwannabhumiin 2 Kingdoms:

1) Pagan and

2) Tamparalinga or Sri Dhammaraja (South of Thailand).

1. Bagan formerly Pagan is an ancient city in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Bagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that would later constitute Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, more than 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 2200 temples and pagodas survive.

According to the Burmese chronicles, Bagan was founded in the second century AD, and fortified in 849 AD by King Pyinbya, 34th successor of the founder of early Bagan.[6] Mainstream scholarship however holds that Bagan was founded in the mid-to-late 9th century by the Mranma (Burmans), who had recently entered the Irrawaddy valley from the Nanzhao Kingdom. It was among several competing Pyu city-states until the late 10th century when the Burman settlement grew in authority and grandeur

From 1044 to 1287, Bagan was the capital as well as the political, economic and cultural nerve center of the Bagan Empire. Over the course of 250 years, Bagan's rulers and their wealthy subjects constructed over 10,000 religious monuments (approximately 1000 stupas, 10,000 small temples and 3000 monasteries)[2] in an area of 104 square kilometres (40 sq mi) in the Bagan plains. The prosperous city grew in size and grandeur, and became a cosmopolitan center for religious and secular studies, specializing in Pali scholarship in grammar and philosophical-psychological (abhidhamma) studies as well as works in a variety of languages on prosody, phonology, grammar, astrology, alchemy, medicine, and legal studies.[8] The city attracted monks and students from as far as India, Sri Lanka and the Khmer Empire.

The culture of Bagan was dominated by religion. The religion of Bagan was fluid, syncretic and by later standards, unorthodox. It was largely a continuation of religious trends in the Pyu era where Theravada Buddhism co-existed with Mahayana Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism, various Hindu (Saivite, and Vaishana) schools as well as native animist (nat) traditions. While the royal patronage of Theravada Buddhism since the mid-11th century had enabled the Buddhist school to gradually gain primacy, other traditions continued to thrive throughout the Pagan period to degrees later unseen.

The Pagan Empire collapsed in 1287 due to repeated Mongol invasions (1277–1301). Recent research shows that Mongol armies may not have reached Bagan itself, and that even if they did, the damage they inflicted was probably minimal.However, the damage had already been done. The city, once home to some 50,000 to 200,000 people, had been reduced to a small town, never to regain its preeminence. The city formally ceased to be the capital of Burma in December 1297 when the Myinsaing Kingdom became the new power in Upper Burma. 14th to 19th centuries

Bagan survived into the 15th century a human settlement, and as a pilgrimage destination throughout the imperial period. A smaller number of "new and impressive" religious monuments still went up to the mid-15th century but afterward, new temple constructions slowed to a trickle with fewer than 200 temples built between the 15th and 20th centuries. The old capital remained a pilgrimage destination but pilgrimage was focused only on "a score or so" most prominent temples out of the thousands such as the Ananda, the Shwezigon, the Sulamani, the Htilominlo, the Dhammayazika, and a few other temples along an ancient road.

The rest—thousands of less famous, out-of-the-way temples—fell into disrepair, and most did not survive the test of time. For the few dozen temples that were regularly patronized, the continued patronage meant regular upkeep as well as architectural additions donated by the devotees. Many temples were

repainted with new frescoes on top of their original Pagan era ones, or fitted with new Buddha statutes. Then came a series of state-sponsored "systematic" renovations in the Konbaung period (1752–1885), which by and large were not true to the original designs—some finished with "a rude plastered surface, scratched without taste, art or result". The interiors of some temples were also whitewashed, such as the Thatbyinnyu and the Ananda. Many painted inscriptions and even murals were added in this period.

Panorama of Bagan as seen from the Minyeingon Temple: The Thatbyinnyu on the left and the Dhammayangyi in the distance on the right

Bagan Plains with the Dhammayangyi on the left

Bagan Plains with the Irrawaddy in the background

Bagan Plains, as seen from across the Irrawaddy river.

2.The Chinese Songhuiyaogao chronicle mentions a country named Danliumei (Tan-liu-mei), stating many details during the period from 970 to 1070. It gives the impression that the kingdom was an independent state at that time, sending embassies to the court of China under the Song dynasty in 1001, 1016 and 1070. Danliumei is assumed to be a Chinese rendering of Tambralinga, the location of that state however is not precisely described. The chronicle of Ma Duanlin and the Songshi, mention similarly named states, Zhoumeiliu (Chou-mei-liu) and Danmeiliu (Tan-liu-

mei) respectively, that are also reported to have sent their first mission to China in 1001, which makes it likely that they refer to the same state. In his 13th-century work Zhu Fan Zhi, Chinese historian Zhao Rugua mentions the state Danmaling (Tan-ma-ling, describing it as a vassal of Srivijaya. Whether Danmaling can be identified with Tambralinga is dubious; sinologist Roderich Ptak proposes instead to locate it in the Tembeling region of Pahang.

An indigenous source of Tambralinga history is an inscription dating to 1183, written in Old Khmer, engraved on the base of a bronze Buddha statue found at Wat Hua Wiang in Chaiya District, Surat Thani Province. It gives an impression of the political situation of Tambralinga in the late-twelfth century. Another important source is a Sanskrit inscription ascribed to King Chandrabhanu of

Tambralinga, dated 1230. It gives the king the epithet "Śrī Dharmarāja", which is an evidence for the identification of Tambralinga with Nakhon Si Thammarat (Nagara Śrī Dharmarāja in Sanskrit).

According to the inscription No. 24 found at Hua-wieng temple in Chaiya near to Nakhon Si Thammarat, the ruler of Tambralinga named Chandrabhanu Sridhamaraja was the king of Padmavamsa (Lotus dynasty).[12]: 184  He began to reign in 1230, he had the Phrae Boromadhatu (chedi in Nakhon Si Thammaraj, from Sanskrit dhatu - element, component, or relic + garbha -

storehouse or repository) reparation and celebration in the same year. Chandrabhanu Sridhamaraja brought Tambralinga to the pinnacle of its power in the mid-thirteenth century. From the Sri Lankan and Tamil materials, records and sources, Chandrabhanu was a Savakan king from Tambralinga who had invaded Sri Lanka in 1247. His navy launched an assault on the southern part of the island but was defeated by the Sri Lankan king.

However Chandrabhanu was able to establish an independent regime in the north of the island over the Jaffna kingdom, but in 1258 he was attacked and subjugated by the south Indian Emperor Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan. He was compelled to pay a tribute to the Pandyan Dynasty of precious jewels and elephants. In 1262 Chandrabhanu launched another attack on the south of the island, his army strengthened this time by the addition of Tamil and Sinhalese forces, only to be defeated when Pandya sided with the Sri Lankan side; this time Jatarvarman Sundara Pandyan's brother Jatavarman Veera

Pandyan intervened and Chandrabhanu himself was killed in the fighting. Chandrabhanu’s son Savakanmaindan inherited the throne and submitted to Veera Pandyan's rule, received rewards and retained control over the northern kingdom. His regime too had disappeared following Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I's ascension to the Pandyan empire's throne and another invasion of the island by the army of the Pandyan Dynasty in the late 1270s. Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I installed his minister in charge of the invasion, Kulasekara Cinkaiariyan, an Aryachakravarti as the new king of Jaffna.

In at least two senses, the rapid expansion of Tambralinga is exceptional in the history of Southeast Asia. In the first place, Candrabhanu’s invasion of Sri Lanka and occupation of the Jaffna

kingdom marks the only time that a Southeast Asian power has launched an overseas military expedition beyond the immediate Southeast Asian region. In the second place, in the historiography of Southeast Asia, southern Thailand has generally played a secondary role to that of places like Java, Sumatra, the Malacca Strait region (Srivijaya in the seventh~eighth century, Melaka in the fifteenth century), Cambodia, Champa, Vietnam, and Burma. Tambralinga’s sudden appearance on centre-stage in the thirteenth century was thus highly unusual. The Jaffna Kingdom  1215–1624 CE, also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, of modern northern Sri Lanka was a historic monarchy that came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna

peninsula. It was traditionally thought to be established after the invasion of Magha, who is credited with the founding of the Jaffna kingdom and is said to have been from Kalinga, in India. Established as a powerful force in the north, north east and west of the island, it eventually became a tribute-paying feudatory of the Pandyan Empire in modern South India in 1258, gaining independence in 1323, when the last Pandyan ruler of Madurai was defeated and expelled in 1323 by Malik Kafur, the army general of the Delhi Sultanate.[6] For a brief period, in the early to mid-14th

century, it was an ascendant power in the island of Sri Lanka when all regional kingdoms accepted subordination. However, the kingdom was eventually overpowered by the rival Kotte Kingdom, around 1450 when it was invaded by Prince Sapumal under the orders of Parakramabahu VI. It gained independence from Kingdom of Kotte control in 1467 and its subsequent rulers directed their energies towards consolidating its economic potential by maximising revenue from pearls and

elephant exports and land revenue. It was less feudal than most of the other regional kingdoms on the island of Sri Lanka of the same period. During this period, important local Tamil literature was produced and Hindu temples were built, including an academy for language advancement. The Sinhalese Nampota dated in its present form to the 14th or 15th century CE suggests that the whole of the Jaffna Kingdom, including parts of the modern Trincomalee District, was recognised as a Tamil region by the name Demala-pattana (Tamil city). In this work, a number of villages that are now situated in the Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Trincomalee districts are mentioned as places in Demala-pattana

The arrival of the Portuguese on the island of Sri Lanka in 1505, and its strategic location in the Palk Strait connecting all interior Sinhalese kingdoms to South India, created political problems. Many of its kings confronted and ultimately made peace with the Portuguese. In 1617, Cankili II, a usurper to the throne, confronted the Portuguese but was defeated, thus bringing the kingdom's independent existence to an end in 1619. Although rebels like Migapulle Arachchi—with the help of the Thanjavur Nayak kingdom—tried to recover the kingdom, they were eventually defeated. Nallur, a suburb of modern Jaffna town, was its capital.

AntanO via Taprobanus - Derivative work of File:Jaffna Kingdom.jpg de Silva, K. M. (2005) A History of Sri Lanka, Colombo: Vijitha Yapa, pp. 782 ISBN: 9-55-809592-3. Abeysinghe, Tikiri (2005) Jaffna under the Portuguese, Colombo: Stamford Lake, pp. 66 ISBN: 9-55-1131-70-1. Peebles, Patrick (2006) The History of Sri Lanka, USA: Greenwood Press, pp. 248 ISBN: 0-313-33205-3. Gnanaprakasar, Swamy (2003) A Critical History of Jaffna, New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, pp. 122 ISBN: 81-206-1686-3.

Indian religion like Hinduism and Mahayana in classical Kingdoms were established for the purpose of the greatness of the dignified royalty and also Brahmins looked very dignified socially and religiously as the enormous ceremony and huge religious structures were typically made from stone causing much labor, it is necessary to employ many citizens, prisoners, captives, these result in unfavorable reactions, even it is not agreeable in the beginning, in the long run, until there is the new alternative for them, the work is designed for the rulers, it is ruler’s and elite’s accomplishments.

Although the royalty enjoyed the facilities, service and pamper this is caused by the influence of Hinduism in India concerning 4 castes:- a ruler or warrior, a Brahmin, a Vassa and a Sudda but in the land of South-east Asia, the Brahmins and the merchants from India also brought the notion of Vanna/caste into the local people and for their own class. Even Buddhism rejects the caste system but the culture of Hindu seems strict and serious inevitably. This was not much as successful as in the motherland of India.

Indian religion like Hinduism and Mahayana established for the purpose of the greatness of the King and royalty. Massive temple constructions resulted in labour exploitations and resentment in the masses, until there arose the new alternative for them.

Map of the Buddhist missions during the reign of Asoka. Sourced fromː Cousins, LS. "On the Vibhajjavadins. The Mahimsasaka, Dhammaguttaka, Kassapiya and Tambapanniya branches of the ancient Theriyas", Buddhist Studies Review 18, 2 (2001),

Missionaries to Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka, only forty-five miles from the southern tip of India, has had a thriving Buddhist culture for more than 2,000 years. According to tradition, the religion was introduced in the mid-third century B.C.E. by missionaries sent by Ashoka (reigned ca. 272 – 231 B.C.E.), India's first great Buddhist king. The missionaries

were led by Mahinda, who was possibly the son or brother of Ashoka. Sri Lanka's king, Devanampiyatissa, converted to Buddhism and the country's earliest monastic complex, the Mahavihara at Anuradhapura, was founded circa 236 B.C.E.. Around this time, a cutting from the bodhi tree under which Shakyamuni Buddha achieved enlightenment was brought from India to Sri Lanka by a nun named Sanghamitta and planted at the Mahavihara; the tree

(or its descendent) still flourishes and is the most popular pilgrimage objective in Sri Lanka. Worship of the bodhi tree subsequently became an important part of Sri Lankan worship, and a bodhi tree shrine was established in every monastery. Each consists of seated images of the Buddha placed around the tree facing the four cardinal directions. Unlike Indian representations of the Buddha seated under the bodhi tree, in Sri Lankan images, the Buddha holds his hands in the gesture of meditation (dhyana mudra) instead of in the earth-touching gesture (bhumisparsha mudra) that Shakyamuni used to call the earth to witness his right to achieve enlightenment.

Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka's capital from circa 500 B.C.E. to 993 C.E., became the center of the country's Buddhist culture and home to the three main monastic complexes: the Mahavihara, the Abhayagiri, and the Jetavana. Virtually all other Sri Lankan monasteries owed ecclesiastical allegiance to one of these three institutions, whose relative importance in any given period was determined by patronage from members of the ruling dynasty. Both Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism were practiced in Sri Lanka.

Like southern India, the island was long a port-of-call for those who traveled along the international shipping lanes that crisscrossed the Bay of Bengal. The complex interrelationship between Sri Lankan and Southeast Asian sculpture produced by the transmission of Buddhist thought and imagery along the trade routes is illustrated by the provenance of a small standing Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.  This delicate sculpture, reportedly found in southern Thailand, has been assigned a Sri Lankan origin, although some scholars have proposed Thailand, Vietnam, or Cambodia

as its place of creation. The stylistic links that have caused so many scholars to disagree over the provenance of this piece suggest the important, yet under-researched, role Sri Lanka played in the diffusion of Buddhist art styles in Southeast Asia. The practice of Mahayana Buddhism in Sri Lanka is also evidenced by a four-armed image of the Bodhisattva Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future.

Although Mahayana Buddhism was quite popular in Sri Lanka, especially from 300 C.E. to 993 C.E., it was the conservative Theravada Buddhist tradition that made the country so influential in Buddhist Southeast Asia. Theravada ("School of the Elders") can be thought of as a type that, as Buddhism grew and expanded, continually inclined toward the conservative. Sri Lankan monks rejected change and

sought to preserve the so-called original doctrine of the Buddha. As a result, Sri Lankan Theravada was completely codified by the fifth century C.E. Theravada Buddhism offered an alternative to the Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism practiced in northern India and the Himalayas, and some Southeast Asian kings, particularly those in Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand, saw it as more "pure" than other types of Buddhism. Sri Lankan Buddhism ultimately became highly influential in those two countries, affecting not only religious practice but statecraft and artistic expression.

There are many factors that contributed to the early spread of Theravada Buddhism throughout Southeast Asia. The main three ways in which the religion was transported into the region is through systems of

⦁ trade, ⦁ marriage, and ⦁ missionary work.

Missionaries of Emperor Ashoka: Buddhism has always been a missionary religion and Theravada Buddhism was able to spread due to the work and travel of missionaries. Not only throughout India abut also few nautical miles away to Sri lanka and then to ther destinations- this was the spread of the Thervada missionaries The Mon people are an ethnic group from Burma (Myanmar) that contributed to the success of Theravada Buddhism within Indochina. Buddhism was likely introduced to the Mon

people during the rule of Ashoka Maurya, the third emperor of the Mauryan Dynasty (268-232 BCE) in India. Ashoka ruled his kingdom in accordance with Buddhist law and throughout his reign he dispatched court ambassadors and missionaries to bring the teachings of the Buddha to the east and Macedonia, as well to parts of Southeast Asia. India had trading routes that ran through Cambodia, allowing for the spread of these ideologies to easily occur. The Mons are one of the earliest ethnic groups from Southeast Asia and as the region shifted and grew, new inhabitants to Burma adopted the Mon people's culture, script, and religion.

The middle of the 11th century saw a decline of Buddhism in Southeast Asia. From the 11th to 13th century the Khmer Empire dominated the Southeast Asian peninsula. Hinduism was the primary religion of the Khmer Empire, with a smaller portion of people also adhering to Mahayana Buddhism. During the Khmer Rule, Theravada Buddhism was only found in parts of Malaysia, northwest Thailand, and lower Burma. Theravada Buddhism experienced a revival under the rule of Anawrahta Minsaw (1014–1077 AD). Anawrahta was the ruler of the Pagan Empire in Burma and is considered to be the founder of the

modern Burmese nation. Anawrahta embraced and revived the Mon people's form of Theravada Buddhism through his building of schools and monasteries that taught and supported Theravada ideologies. The success of Theravada Buddhism in Burma under the rule of Anawrahta allowed for the later revival and growth of Buddhism in neighboring

Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. The influences of the Mon people as well as the Pagan Empire are still felt today throughout the region. Currently, the Southeast Asian countries with the highest amounts of practicing Theravada Buddhists are Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. The Sri Lankans Claim that the noted monk called Rahula from Sri Lanka lived in Pagan and then headed for Sri Dhammaraja kingdom (Tamparaling) to spread the word of the Buddha.

Later the Sukhothai kingdom accepted it and made it a state religion before it later propagated into the Lanna kingdom, late Nagara and Lavaek post-Nagara kingdoms and later to Lan Xang of Laos and neighborhood kingdom, from that on, upper Vietnam being the only one spared.

However the truth is that during the 5th to 13th centuries, The Southeast Asian empires were influenced directly from India, so that these empires essentially followed the Mahāyāna tradition. The Srivijaya Empire to the south and the Khmer Empire to the north competed for influence, and their art expressed the rich Mahāyāna pantheon of bodhisattvas. Srivijaya, a maritime empire centred at Palembang on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, adopted Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism under a line of rulers named the Sailendras.

Yijing described Palembang as a great centre of Buddhist learning where the emperor supported over a thousand monks at his court. Yijing also testified to the importance of Buddhism as early as the year 671 and advised future Chinese pilgrims to spend a year or two in Palembang.[6] Srivijaya declined due to conflicts with the Chola rulers of India, before being destabilised by the Islamic expansion from the 13th century.

Between 8th to 11th century, Medang Mataram kingdom flourished in Central Java ruled by Sailendra dynasty, which also the ruling family of Srivijaya. The reign of King Panangkaran (r. 760—780) saw the rise of Buddhist Mahayana influence in central Java, as the Sailendran kings became the ardent patron of Buddhism. Numerous Buddhist temples and monuments were erected in the region. Notable example includes Kalasan, Manjusrigrha, Plaosan, and the grand stone mandala Borobudur, completed during the reign of Samaratungga (r. 819–838) in early 9th century. The period marked the apogee of Buddhist civilization in Indonesia.

Cambodian statue of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. Sandstone, 7th century CE

From the 9th to the 13th centuries, the Mahāyāna Buddhist and Hindu Khmer Empire dominated much of the Southeast Asian peninsula. Under the Khmer, more than 900 temples were built in Cambodia and in neighbouring Thailand. Angkor was at the centre of this development, with a temple complex and urban organisation able to support around one million urban dwellers.

Buddhism reached Southeast Asia both directly over sea from India and indirectly from Central Asia and China in a process that spanned most of the first millennium CE.

In the third century B.C., there was disagreement among Ceylonese monks about the differences in practices between some councils of Bhikkhu monks and Vajjian Monks. The Bhikkhu monks affirmed Theravada traditions and rejected some of the practices of the Vajjian monks. It is thought that this sparked the split between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism was formed and developed by Ceylon Bhikkhus during a period spanning from the third century B.C. to fifth century A.D. Ceylonese influence, however, did not reach Southeast Asia until the eleventh century A.D. Theravada Buddhism developed in Southern India and then traveled through Sri Lanka, Burma, and into Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Beyond.

In the twelfth century, Mahayana Buddhism developed in Northern India and traveled through Tibet, China and into Vietnam, Indonesia and beyond. Buddhism is thought to have entered Southeast Asia from trade with India, China and Sri Lanka during the 1st, 2nd and 3rd centuries. One of the earliest accounts of Buddhism in Southeast Asia was of a Theravada Buddhist mission sent by the Indian emperor Ashoka to modern-day Burma in 250 BCE. The mission was received by the Mon kingdom and many people were converted to Buddhism. Via this early

encounter with Buddhism, as well as others due to the continuous regional trade between Southeast Asia, China and South Asia, Buddhism spread throughout Southeast Asia. After the initial arrival in modern-day Burma, Buddhism spread throughout mainland Southeast Asia and into the islands of modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia. There are two primary forms of Buddhism found in Southeast Asia, Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada Buddhism spread from India to Sri Lanka then into the region as outlined above, and primarily took hold in the modern states of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and

southern Vietnam. Mahayana Buddhism is thought to have spread from both China and India during the first and second century into Southeast Asia. Mahayana took root primarily in maritime Southeast Asia, although there was also a strong influence in Vietnam, in part due to their connection with China.

Prince Siddhartha shaves his hair and becomes an ascetic. Borobudur bas-relief, 9th century.

==Success of the Thervada traditions

Suffice it to say that Buddhism in Southeast Asia includes a variety of traditions of Buddhism including two main traditions: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Theravāda Buddhism. Historically, Mahāyāna Buddhism had a prominent position in this region, but in modern times most countries follow the Theravāda tradition. Southeast Asian countries with a Theravāda Buddhist majority

are Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, all mainland countries. Vietnam continues to have a Mahāyāna majority due to Chinese influence. Indonesia was Mahāyāna Buddhist since the time of the Sailendra and Srivijaya empires, but Mahāyāna Buddhism in Indonesia is now largely practiced by the Chinese diaspora, as in Singapore and Malaysia. Mahāyāna Buddhism is the predominant religion of Chinese communities in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia.

The Many Rahulas?

Arahat Mahinda (Sinhala: මිහිඳු මහරහතන් වහන්සේ) was a Buddhist monk depicted in Buddhist sources as bringing Buddhism to Sri Lanka.[1] He was the first-born son of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka from his wife Devi and the elder brother of Sanghamitra.

Mahinda was sent as a Buddhist missionary to the Anuradhapura Kingdom in Sri Lanka. Mahinda attained the title of an arhat and resided at Mihintale. He played an important role in proliferating Buddhism throughout the Indian subcontinent.

Mihindu (Mahinda in Pali) Seya at Rajagala, the place where the inscription commemorating Arahat Mahinda was found// His statute in a Monastery The Dipavansa and the Mahavansa, Sri Lanka's two great religious chronicles, contain accounts of Mahinda travelling to Sri Lanka and converting King Devanampiyatissa. These are the primary sources for accounts of his life and deeds. Inscriptions and literary references also establish that Buddhism became prevalent in Sri Lanka around the 3rd century BCE, the period when Mahinda lived. The inscription in Rajagala monastery confirm the fact that Thera Mahinda came to Sri Lanka to propagate Buddhism and lived there until his death.

Period: Circa 200 BC, Script: Early Brahmi, Language: Old Sinhala

Transcript: Ye ima dipa paṭamaya idiya agatana Iḍika-[tera-Ma] hida-teraha tube

Translation: "This is the stupa of the elder Ittiya and the elder Mahinda, who came to this Island by its foremost good fortune." The Mahavamsa says that Mahinda, the son of Ashoka, came to Sri Lanka and that Ashoka's daughter became a nun and brought the Bodhi Tree.

Though Ashoka wanted his prodigal eldest son Mahendra to succeed him and made several attempts to bring him out of renunciation, due to the orthodox Hindu community's refusal to accept a Buddhist Crown Prince from a Vaishya mother as well as Majhendra's own lack of enthusiasm to take over an empire, he gave up. Though texts describe Mahendra's motive in leaving for Sri Lanka as spiritual, historians have argued that it was more of a political motive. Ashoka had feared that Mahendra would be killed just like Sushima, so to keep him safe and to avoid any succession war, he sent him to Sri Lanka. The party left from Vedasagiri vihara, believed to be modern day Sanchi.

Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa, the chronicles of Sri Lanka, record the arrival of the party on the full moon of Jettha, a national festival. At the time, King Devanampiyatissa was participating in a hunting expedition in the Mihintale hills. It is said that Ashoka and Devanampiyatissa were previously acquainted and on good terms, having exchanged royal gifts upon

their respective ascensions to the throne. Upon meeting the shaven-headed monks Devanampiyatissa was taken aback by their appearance and asked who they were. After exchanging greetings, Mahinda preached the Chulahatthipadopama Sutra, and the royal hunting party converted to Buddhism. The party was subsequently invited to Anuradhapura, the seat of the throne for

a royal reception and to give further dharma talks. Mahinda subsequently gave two public talks sanctioned by Devanampiyatissa, in the Royal Hall and in the Nandana garden in the Royal Park, leading to the start of the public embrace of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The royal park Mahamegha was then set aside as the residence for Mahinda's party, and in later times became the Mahavihara, the earliest centre of Buddhist culture and scholarship Sri Lanka.

The Chetiyagirivihara monastery was then established in Mihintale. Mahinda then sent for his sister Sanghamitta from Magadha, who was a nun, to start a female Buddhist order after local women had expressed a desire to join the Sangha. Mahinda also arranged for a bodhi sapling from the original tree in Bodh Gaya to be sent to Sri Lanka, where it was planted in the grounds of the Mahavihara and is still visible today.

After a month spent delivering discourses to Sri Lankans who had ventured to the capital, Mahinda retreated to Mihintale to spend the vassa during the monsoon season. As a result, a second royal funded monastery was built there. Later, Mahinda organised for a stupa to be constructed, and a part of the bodily relics of Gautama Buddha were transferred from the Maurya Empire to Sri Lanka. Mahinda then had Arittha, Devanampiyatissa's nephew, a bhikkhu, expound the Vinaya monastic code of discipline to further Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

Mahinda outlived Devanampiyatissa, and died at the age of 80 in Sri Lanka. King Uttiya, who succeeded his brother, organized a state funeral for Mahinda and constructed a stupa to house his relics at Mihintale.

Rāhula (Pāli and Sanskrit) was the only son of Siddhārtha Gautama (commonly known as the Buddha) (c. 563 or 480 – 483 or 400 BCE), and his wife, princess Yaśodharā. He is mentioned in numerous Buddhist texts, from the early period onward. Accounts about Rāhula indicate a mutual impact between Prince Siddhārtha's life and the lives of his family members. According to the Pāli tradition, Rāhula was born on the day of Prince Siddhārtha's renunciation, and was therefore named Rāhula, meaning a fetter on the path to enlightenment. According to the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition, and

numerous other later sources, however, Rāhula was only conceived on the day of Prince Siddhartha's renunciation, and was born six years later, when Prince Siddhārtha became enlightened as the Buddha. This long gestation period was explained by bad karma from previous lives of both Yaśodharā and of Rāhula himself, although more naturalistic reasons are also given. As a result of the late birth, Yaśodharā needed to prove that Rāhula was really Prince Siddhārtha's son, which she eventually did successfully by an act of truth. Historian H.W. Schumann has argued that Prince Siddhārtha conceived

Rāhula and waited for his birth, to be able to leave the palace with the king and queen's permission, but Orientalist Noël Péri considered it more likely that Rāhula was born after Prince Siddhārtha left his palace.

Between seven and fifteen years after Rāhula was born, the Buddha returned to his hometown, where Yaśodharā had Rāhula ask the Buddha for the throne of the Śākya clan. The Buddha responded by having Rāhula ordained as the first Buddhist novice monk. He taught the young novice about truth, self-reflection, and not-self, eventually leading to Rāhula's enlightenment. Although early accounts state

that Rāhula died before the Buddha did, later tradition has it that Rāhula was one of the disciples that outlived the Buddha, guarding the Buddha's Dispensation until the rising of the next Buddha. Rāhula is known in Buddhist texts for his eagerness for learning, and was honored by novice monks and nuns throughout Buddhist history. His accounts have led to a perspective in Buddhism of seeing children as hindrances to the spiritual life on the one hand, and as people with potential for enlightenment on the other hand

Young Prince Rahula prompted by his mother to ask for his inheritance, left behind by the Buddha after His renunciation. Instead, the Buddha told Venerable Sariputta (Sariputra) to ordain Prince Rahula, giving him a spiritual inheritance better than the one he asked for.

Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera (1408 – 1491) was a Buddhist monk and an eminent scholar, who lived in the 15th century in Sri Lanka. He was a polyglot who was given the title "Shad Bhasha Parameshwara" due to his mastery in six oriental languages which prevailed in the Indian subcontinent. Sangharaja Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera was also a distinguished author, veteran astrologer and a proficient ayurvedic physician.

Walpola Rahula Thero (1907–1997) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, scholar and writer. In 1964, he became the Professor of History and Religions at Northwestern University, thus becoming the first bhikkhu to hold a professorial chair in the Western world.[1] He also once held the position of Vice-Chancellor at the then Vidyodaya University (currently known as the University of Sri Jayewardenepura). He has written extensively about Buddhism in English, French and Sinhala. He wrote the book What the Buddha Taught about Theravada Buddhism.

Who brought Buddhism to Cambodia?

After the 13th century Theravada Buddhism became the state religion of Cambodia. King Jayavarman VII had sent his son Tamalinda to Sri Lanka to be ordained as a Buddhist monk and study Theravada Buddhism according to the Pali scriptural traditions.

The Rise of the Theravada

After the 13th century Theravada Buddhism became the state religion of Cambodia.

King Jayavarman VII had sent his son Tamalinda to Sri Lanka to be ordained as a Buddhist monk and study Theravada Buddhism according to the Pali scriptural traditions. Tamalinda then returned to Cambodia and promoted Buddhist traditions according to the Theravada training he had received, galvanizing and energizing the long-standing Theravada presence that had existed throughout the Angkor empire for centuries.

During the time Tamalinda studied at the famous Mahavihara Monastery in Sri Lanka (1180–1190), a new dynamic type of Theravada Buddhism was being preached as the "true faith" in Sri Lanka. This form of Buddhism was somewhat militant and highly disciplined in reaction to the wars with the Tamil that nearly destroyed Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the 9th and 10th centuries. As Theravada Buddhism struggled for survival in Sri Lanka, it developed a resiliency that generated a renaissance throughout the Buddhist world, and would eventually spread across Burma, Chang Mai, the Mon kingdoms, Lana, Sukothai, Laos, and Cambodia.

In the 13th century, wandering missionaries from the Mon-Khmer-speaking parts of Siam, Burma, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka played an important part in this process. When Prince Tamalinda returned after ten years of ordination, he was a Thera, a senior monk, capable of administering ordination into this vigorous Theravada lineage, which insisted on orthodoxy and rejected Mahayana "innovations" such as tantric practices.

Some scholars have argued that the transition from Mahayana to Theravada was more gradual than it was generally believed. French scholar Nicolas Revire has studied an Angkor stele, now at the Bangkok National Museum, depicting as late as the 13th or 14th century the Mahayana image of Buddha's birth where Buddha emerges from his mother's side at the moment of delivery. Revire believes this suggests that a kind of Mahayana “leftover ‘behavior’” persisted even after the institutional transition to Theravada had been completed.

Buddhism in Cambodia or Khmer Buddhism has existed since at least the 5th century. In its earliest form it was a type of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Today, the predominant form of Buddhism in Cambodia is Theravada Buddhism. It is enshrined in the Cambodian constitution as the official religion of the country. Theravada Buddhism has been the Cambodian state religion since the 13th century (except during the Khmer Rouge period).As of 2013 it was estimated that 97.9 percent of the population was Buddhist.[1][3]

The history of Buddhism in Cambodia spans a number of successive kingdoms and empires. Buddhism entered Cambodia via two different streams. The earliest forms of Buddhism, along with Hindu influences, entered the Kingdom of Funan with Hindu merchants. In later history, a second stream of Buddhism entered Khmer culture during the Angkor empire when Cambodia absorbed the various Buddhist traditions of the Mon kingdoms of Dvaravati and Haripunchai.

For the first thousand years of Khmer history, Cambodia was ruled by a series of Hindu kings with an occasional Buddhist king, such as Jayavarman I of Funan, Jayavarman VII, who became a mahayanist, and Suryavarman I. A variety of Buddhist traditions co-existed peacefully throughout Cambodian lands, under the tolerant auspices of Hindu kings and the neighboring Mon-Theravada kingdoms.

The mass conversion of Khmer society to Theravada Buddhism amounted to a nonviolent revolution every all level of society. All monumental building projects that had characterized the Angkor empire came to a sudden end. Scholars struggle to account for this sudden and inexplicable transformation of Khmer civilization.

Theravada Buddhism succeeded because it was inclusive and universal in its outreach, recruiting the disciples and monks from not only the elites and court, but also in the villages and among the peasants, enhancing its popularity among the Khmer folk.

"Their message succeeded because it provided a meaningful way of relating to the world for many who had been marginal to the classical civilizations or who had been seriously affected by the disruption of the classical civilizations in the 13th and 14th centuries."

Journalist Elizabeth Becker explained the phenomenon: "Cambodians were ripe for conversion. The political integrity and morality of the kingdom were thrown into question at the time, and Cambodians converted en masse to this new faith that offered social tranquility without striving for material gain or power. The modest Buddhist bonzes were a welcome change from the arrogant and wealthy priests of the kings. The new Buddhists dressed in simple saffron robes. They possessed a sense of responsibility for all, not just the nobility. Eventually they became as revered as the devaraja, who in turn became a Theravada Buddhist himself as patron of the faith."

Other scholars suggest that the classical Angkor Empire collapsed from desertion from within and assault from without, from growing external threats and assaults from Siam and Vietnam which were both in ascendancy at the time.

"The post-Angkor period saw the dramatic rise of the Pali Theravada tradition in Southeast Asia and concomitant decline of the Brahmanic and Mahayana Buddhist religious traditions. A 1423 Thai account of a mission to Sri Lanka mentions eight Khmer monks who again brought orthodox Mahavihara sect of Singhalese order to Kampuchea. This particular event belied, however, the profound societal

shift that was taking place from priestly class structure to a village-based monastic system in Theravada lands. While adhering to the monastic discipline, monks developed their wats, or temple-monasteries, not only into moral religious but also education, social-service, and cultural centers for the people. Wats became the main source of learning and popular education. Early western

explorers, settlers, and missionaries reported widespread literacy among the male populations of Burma, Thailand, Kampuchea, Laos, and Vietnam. Until the 19th century, literacy rates exceeded those of Europe in most if not all Theravada lands. In Kampuchea, Buddhism became the transmitter of Khmer language and culture." The Theravada revolution was therefore a grassroots movement of the Khmer people rejecting some of the oppressive practices of the god-king religion of Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism.

With the rise of Siam in the west and Vietnam in the east, the classical Angkor empire disappeared and the beginning of present-day Cambodia began. The center of government began to migrate away from Angkor to a more central location in the center of Cambodia, in the regions near present-day Phnom Penh.

Cambodia became from this time forward a Theravada Buddhist nation. "Theravada Buddhism, unlike almost all the previous religions of the country, its doctrines were not imposed from above but were preached to the people. It was simple, required no expensive priesthood or temples and little ceremonial. Its missionaries practiced austerity, solitude, humility, and poverty. Their example and their direct contact with the people started to undermine the old state religion and the monastery which rested upon it. Theravada Buddhism remained the great belief and comfort of the Khmer people until 1975."

Zhou Daguan, a Chinese visitor to the Royal Court of Cambodia at this time wrote of the presence of Theravada Buddhist monks in the latter days of Angkor. Zhou Daguan was an emissary from the court of Timur Khan, Emperor of China. Daguan lived in Angkor Thom for one year 1296-7 and wrote a small book about his observations in which he described Theravada monks with shaved heads, yellow robes and one shoulder bare, walking barefoot throughout Cambodia. Their temples were simple, he said, containing one image of Sakyamuni Buddha. The image was draped in yellow cloth.

The Theravada monks ate meat or fish but did not drink wine. They ate only one meal a day. They did not cook in the temple, but lived on alms food. "The books they recited from were very numerous. These were made of neatly bound palm leaves covered with black writing. Some of the monks were royal counselors, and therefore had the right to be conveyed in palanquins with gold shafts accompanied by umbrellas with gold or silver handles. There were no Buddhist nuns."

Possible early missions

Unconfirmed Sinhalese sources assert that missionaries of King Ashoka, introduced Buddhism into Southeast Asia, approximately in the 3rd century BC. Various Buddhist sects competed with Brahmanism and indigenous animistic religions over approximately the next millennium; during this period, Indian culture was highly influential.

Funan

The Funan Kingdom that flourished between 100 BC and 500 CE was Hindu, with the kings of Funan sponsoring the worship of Vishnu and Shiva. Buddhism was already present in Funan as a secondary religion in this era. Buddhism began to assert its presence from about year 450 onward, and was observed by the Chinese traveler Yijing toward the close of the seventh century.

Two Buddhist monks from Funan, named Mandrasena and Saṃghabara, took up residency in China in the 5th to 6th centuries, and translated several Buddhist sūtras from Sanskrit into Chinese.[6] Among these texts is the Mahāyāna Mahāprajñāpāramitā Mañjuśrīparivarta Sūtra.[7] This text was separately translated by both monks. The bodhisattva Mañjuśrī is a prominent figure in this text.

Chenla

The Kingdom of Chenla replaced Funan and endured from 500–700. Buddhism was weakened in the Chenla period, but survived, as seen in the inscriptions of Sambor Prei Kuk (626) and those of Siem Reap dealing with the erection of statues of Avalokiteśvara (791). Some pre-Angkorean statuary in the Mekong Delta region indicate the existence of Sanskrit-based Sarvāstivāda Buddhism. Khmer-style Buddha images are abundant from the period of 600–800. Many Mahāyāna bodhisattva images also date from this period, often found alongside the predominantly Hindu images of Shiva and Vishnu. An inscription from Ta Prohm temple in Siem Reap province, dated about 625, states, that the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are flourishing.

Angkor

The transition from Hindu god-king to Mahayana bodhisattva-king was probably gradual and imperceptible. The prevailing Vaishnavite and Shaivite faith traditions gave way to the worship of the Gautama Buddha and the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

The Buddhist Sailendra kingdom exercised suzerainty over Cambodia as a vassal state during the end of the eighth and the beginning of the ninth centuries. King Jayavarman II (802–869), the first real Khmer king of the Angkor Empire, proclaimed himself Hindu god-king and identified himself with Shiva. Nevertheless, he was increasingly friendly to and supportive of Mahayana Buddhist influence throughout his kingdom. Mahayana Buddhism became increasingly established in his empire. The form of Mahayana Buddhism that was propagated in the Srivijaya lands was similar to the Pala Dynasty Buddhism of Bengal, and of the Nalanda University in northern India.

The Bengal University of Nalanda in Megadha (now Behar) was the theological center of Mahayana Buddhism under the protection of the Pala Dynasty [750-1060]. Shivaist interpretations of Buddhism, tinged with Tantric mysticism (that may have revived portions of pre-Aryan northeastern Indian faith traditions) were worked out in Megadha and then were

exported throughout insular and peninsular Southeast Asia, particularly to Java. Yashovarman I (889-910), who ruled from the vicinity of Rolous in the late ninth century, seems to have been a Shivite Buddhist influenced by Nalanda syncretism. His successors (notably Jayavarman IV) dedicated themselves to Hindu trinity such as Vishnu and Brahma, as well as to Shiva, with whom they continued to be identified by hereditary families of priests. Rajendravarman II studied Buddhism intensely.

The Sailendra dynasty also built the fantastic Mahayana Buddhist temple Borobudur (750–850) in Java. Borobudur appears to have been the inspiration for the later fabulous Angkor building projects in Cambodia, particularly Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.

The primary form of Buddhism practiced in Cambodia during Angkor times was Mahayana Buddhism, strongly influenced with Tantric tendencies.

The prevalence of Tantrayana in Java, Sumatra and Kamboja [[[Cambodia]]], a fact now definitely established by modern researches into the character of Mahayana Buddhism and Saivism in these parts of the Indian Orient. Already in Kamboja inscription of the 9th century there is definite evidence of the teaching of Tantric texts at the court of Jayavarman II. In a Kamboja record of the 11th century there is a reference to the 'Tantras of the Paramis'; and images of Hevajra, definitely a tantric divinity, have been recovered from amidst the ruins of Angkor Thom. A number of Kamboja inscriptions

refer to several kings who were initiated into the Great Secret (Vrah Guhya) by their Hindu Brahmin gurus; the Saiva records make obvious records to Tantric doctrines that had crept into Saivism.

But it was in Java and Sumatra that Tantrayana seems to have attained greater importance. There Mahayana Buddhism and Shaivism, both deeply imbued with tantric influences, are to be seen often blending with one another during this period. The Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan, consisting of Sanskrit versus explained by an Old Javanese commentary, professed to teach the Mahayana and Mantrayana.

The presence and growing influence of Buddhism continued as the Angkor empire increased in power. King Yosavarman built many Buddhist temples in 887–889, representing the mandala of Mount Meru, the mythical axis of the world. The largest of these temples is Phnom Kandal or "Central Mountain" which lies near the heart of the Angkor complex.

King Rajendravarman II (944–968) "studied Buddhism intensely. Although he decided to remain a Shivaist, he appointed a Buddhist, Kavindrarimathana, chief minister. Kavindrarimathana built shrines to Buddha and Shiva. Jayavarman V (son of Rajendravarman) also remained a devote of Shiva. He, too, permitted his own chief minister, Kirtipandita, to foster Mahayana Buddhist learning and divination." Suryavarman I

Suryavarman I (1006–1050) is considered the greatest of the Buddhist kings, with the exception of Jayavarman VII. The origins of Suryavarman I are unclear but evidence suggests that he began his career in northeastern Cambodia. He came to the throne after a period of disputes between rival claims to the Khmer throne. Claim to the Khmer throne did not exclusively include paternal lines but also recognized the royal maternal line, giving prominence to whichever line successfully supported the legitimacy of the claim.

A strong proponent of Mahayana Buddhism, he did not interfere or obstruct the growing presence and dissemination of Theravada Buddhism during his reign. Indeed, inscriptions indicate he sought wisdom from wise Mahayanists and Hinayanists and at least somewhat disestablished the Sivakaivalya family's hereditary claims to being chief priests (purohitar). Surayvarman's posthumous title of Nirvanapada, 'the king who has gone to Nirvana' is the strongest evidence that he was a Buddhist.” Jayavarman VII

LEFT Cambodian statue of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. Sandstone, 7th century CE. RIGHT… Naga-enthroned Buddha statue, 12th century, Angkor( Jayavarman VII, who built the great royal temple at Banteay Chhmar, linked himself with the image of the Buddha seated on a serpent, or naga, as the divine form under which he would be honored.

During his reign, the naga-enthroned Buddha became a ubiquitous image for veneration, often set up together with Lokeshvara, who was associated with his father, and Prajnaparamita, the form under which his deceased mother was honored. Lokeshvara is the powerful enlightened being of compassion, while Prajnaparmita is the goddess who personifies wisdom. King Jayavarman VII, therefore, presented himself as the enlightened Buddha, the product of the union of Compassion and Wisdom, supported and glorified by the naga, which refers to the Khmer people.

Images of the naga-enthroned Buddha have been found at Banteay Chhmar, both in architectural relief sculpture and as icons in the round. After the death of Jayavarman VII, followers of other forms of Buddhism (for example, Theravada) that became prevalent in Cambodia changed the meaning of the naga-enthroned Buddha and reinterpreted the image to refer to a scene from the historical Buddha’s life

story in which a serpent protected him from a flood. The crowned and bejeweled aspect of this Buddha, though, indicates that it is another kind of transcendent figure. In his lap his hands are in a posture of meditation, holding what appears to be an offering of ceremonial rice referring to the hope that he will ensure the prosperity of the land.) Jayavarman VII (1181–1215), the most significant Khmer Buddhist king, worked tirelessly to establish Buddhism as the state religion of Angkor. Jayavarman VII was a Mahayana Buddhist, and he regarded

himself to be a Dharma-king, a bodhisattva, whose duty was to "save the people" through service and merit-making, liberating himself in the process. Jayavarman withdrew his devotion from the old gods and began to identify more openly with Buddhist traditions. His regime marked a clear dividing line with the old Hindu past. Before 1200, art in the temples mostly portrayed scenes from the Hindu pantheon; after 1200, Buddhist scenes began to appear as standard motifs.

During Jayavarman VII's reign, there was a shift away from the concept of devaraja god-king, toward the concept of the Sangha, the concept of monks. In former times, great effort and resources were invested into building temples for elite brahman priests and god-kings. Under Jayavarman, these resources were redirected to building libraries, monastic dwellings, public works, and more "earthly" projects accessible to the common people.

While Jayavarman VII himself was Mahayana Buddhist, the presence of Theravada Buddhism was increasingly evident.

This Singhalese-based Theravada Buddhist orthodoxy was first propagated in Southeast Asia by Taling (Mon) monks in the 11th century and together with Islam in the 13th century in southern insular reaches of the region, spread as a popularly-based movement among the people. Apart from inscriptions, such as one of Lopburi, there were other signs that the religious venue of Suvannabhumi were

changing. Tamalinda, the Khmer monk believed to be the son of Jayavarman VII, took part in an 1180 Burmese-led mission to Sri Lanka to study the Pali canon and on his return in 1190 had adepts of the Sinhala doctrine in his court. Chou Ta-Laun, who led a Chinese mission into Angkor in 1296-97 confirms the significant presence of Pali Theravada monks in the Khmer Capital."