Avalokita's vase

[N. Ganesan]

NG> Avalokita's abode is Mt. Potalaka which was identified
                                               ^^^^^^^^^^
NG> as Mt. Potiyil(Malaya) by Hsuan Tsang and another Chinese
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
NG> encyclopaedia writer.

Raja wrote:
>That's your theory, not an established fact.
>No offence intended,


In the archives, enough is there on Mt. Potalaka. Though some scholars
have different opinion (for example M. Deshpande, Who inspired
Panini?, JAOS, 1997 has Potalaka in Northwest India), the majaority of
scholars have identified it with Malaya. Just one example from 1913
A.D is given below.

BUDDHIST CHINA by Reginald Fleming Johnston
Published by JohnMurray, Albermarle Street,  London W. 1913.
Pages 270 ff.
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Chinese Buddhists acknowledge that the original seat of Kuan-yin
was at a great distance from China. According to one interpretation of
Avalokitesvara, it means the Lord (Isvara) who looks down from a
height. The "height" is the sacred mountain of Potalaka, a place which
is always associated with the worship of this Bodhisat. Where the
original Potalaka is a disputed question. It is usually assumed to
have been a rocky hill to the east of Malaya mountain, southern India
near the harbour of Cape Komorin. If this identification is correct,
it seems highly probable that the deity worshipped there was of
non-Buddhist origin and there is evidence to associate her (or him)
with Siva.
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Regards,
N. Ganesan

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