dvija varNa

[N. Ganesan]

NG>In Indonesia, the word for moon is tiGkaL (a Drav. word
NG>in tamil, kannada; A. C. Burnell, vamza-brAhmaNa). There was a
NG>large syncretism between Mahayana Buddhism and Saivism in SE Asia
NG>happening for centuries.

Dr. L. Cousins:
<<
I don't know whether syncretism is the right word, but certainly
there is some measure of this at times. But this was certainly
present in Ceylon also, if not on the same scale. Everywhere local
religious traditions are also very important, as indeed in the Tamil
country.
>>

> From Lokesh Chandra,1979, ODDiyAna: a new interpretation
(L. Strenbach fel. volume):
"the acculturation of 'Siva into Buddhist tradition
may have takenplace in South India and thence it was
transmitted to Indonesia where 'Siva-Buddha
syncretism was deeply entrenched."

The incoming Thais borrowed many Shaivaite practices
from the Khmers. Among Cambodian kings we find many Shaivaites.
And shaivaite monuments and art. Shaivaite brahminism is
due to this. For example, Karaikkal
Ammaiyar(5th century), a Tamil shaivaite saint is first
reperesented under the feet of dancing Nataraja in Cambodia.
Her images are many (many have been recently found also,
an art historian from Leiden sent an email about this.)
in Cambodia, and this is before we find representations
of her in South India.

We can compare the art findings of Shaiva and Vaishnavaite
images from archaeology in Cambodia/Thailand and Ceylon. I
would think those from Ceylon would be few orders less
compare with those from mainland SE Asia. After the
mahaayaana purge of the abhayagiri vihara, less and less
brahmins or brahminical deities like Shiva/Vishnu
are from Ceylon. OTOH, this syncretism continues to
flourish in SE Asia in later centuries.

Regards,
N. Ganesan



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