Hinduism in China: A forgotten history

by Guest Thu Jun 30, 2016 7:39 pm

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/behind-chinas-hindu-temples-a-forgotten-history/article4932458.ece

by Guest Thu Jun 30, 2016 7:51 pm

A few kilometres from the Kaiyuan temple stands a striking several metre-high Shiva lingam in the centre of the popular Bamboo Stone Park. To the city’s residents, however, the lingam is merely known as a rather unusually shaped “bamboo stone,” another symbol of history that still stays hidden in plain sight.

by goodcitizn Thu Jun 30, 2016 10:51 pm

Rashmun wrote:http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/behind-chinas-hindu-temples-a-forgotten-history/article4932458.ece

The elephant sculpture in the video seems to have been done by some novice, certainly not by an Indian familiar with its shape and dimensions.

by Guest Thu Jun 30, 2016 10:56 pm

goodcitizn wrote:
Rashmun wrote:http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/behind-chinas-hindu-temples-a-forgotten-history/article4932458.ece
The elephant sculpture in the video seems to have been done by some novice, certainly not by an Indian familiar with its shape and dimensions.

probably crafted by a chinese craftsman after being requested (and probably paid) to do so by an Indian.

by goodcitizn Thu Jun 30, 2016 11:03 pm

Rashmun wrote:
goodcitizn wrote:
Rashmun wrote:http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/behind-chinas-hindu-temples-a-forgotten-history/article4932458.ece
The elephant sculpture in the video seems to have been done by some novice, certainly not by an Indian familiar with its shape and dimensions.

probably crafted by a chinese craftsman after being requested (and probably paid) to do so by an Indian.

Probably. Certainly that story about the spider getting into its trunk and killing it didn't come from Hindu mythology!

by Vakavaka Pakapaka Fri Jul 01, 2016 1:18 pm

goodcitizn wrote:
Rashmun wrote:http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/behind-chinas-hindu-temples-a-forgotten-history/article4932458.ece
The elephant sculpture in the video seems to have been done by some novice, certainly not by an Indian familiar with its shape and dimensions.

Huge lingam????

Historians should check and see if pir Aurangajeb lovingly worshipped this kafir lingam in China!

by truthbetold Fri Jul 01, 2016 6:58 pm

goodcitizn wrote:
Rashmun wrote:
goodcitizn wrote:
Rashmun wrote:http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/behind-chinas-hindu-temples-a-forgotten-history/article4932458.ece
The elephant sculpture in the video seems to have been done by some novice, certainly not by an Indian familiar with its shape and dimensions.

probably crafted by a chinese craftsman after being requested (and probably paid) to do so by an Indian.
Probably. Certainly that story about the spider getting into its trunk and killing it didn't come from Hindu mythology!

Spider, snake, elephant and lingam - Sri kalahasti - near Tirupati.

by MaxEntropy_Man Fri Jul 01, 2016 7:40 pm

there is a rich history of the chozha king rajendran, son of raja rajan spreading hinduism in sri lanka and south-east asia. read up on it.

by MaxEntropy_Man Fri Jul 01, 2016 7:44 pm

a more modern "synthesis" (not really, he's just singing straight up carnatic music). he's not quite ariyakkudi ramanuja iyengar yet, but he's really improving:

by Guest Fri Jul 01, 2016 9:13 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:there is a rich history of the chozha king rajendran, son of raja rajan spreading hinduism in sri lanka and south-east asia. read up on it.

i have some familiarity with the cholas and their influence on sri lanka and south east asia. it should be clear that the way the cholas exerted their influence on these regions is through being conquerors/invaders/looters, somewhat like Mahmud of Ghazni. their influence on these regions is therefore significantly different from indian influence on china in which cultural influence was exerted without any warfare. I give below some extracts from a relevant article which was first published in the magazine 'The Week' :

Having first fought and then agreed to a truce with Vengi of the eastern Chalukyas, Rajaraja, according to his own inscription, conquered Lakshadweep and the Maldives. Buddhist literature from Sri Lanka says that the Indian king took advantage of an internal strife in Sri Lanka and invaded the island. The ruthless Chola conquest was apparently no different from the conduct of Mahmud of Ghazni at Somnath. The Kulavamsa says that the capital Anuradhapura, which sported many Buddhist viharas, was 'utterly destroyed in every way by the Chola army.' Not only were the viharas decimated, but the holy stupas in them were torn apart in search of treasure. As George W. Spencer observes in The Politics of Expansion: The Chola Conquest of Sri Lanka and Sri Vijaya, 'Even if we allow for the exaggeration of the chroniclers, it is clear that the Cholas devastated the city.' "

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"It was no religious conquest. The viharas were looted because they contained treasures, as did the temples of India during Mahmud's conquest. Rajaraja's adventures may be dismissed as having happened within the extended coastal waters of India. But his son Rajendra was a true conqueror of overseas territories. Says Dr. K.V. Hariharan in The Chola Maritime Activities in Early Historical Setting: 'Of the most notable was Rajendra Chola's naval expedition against Kadaram. In this expedition, he defeated a king named Sangama Vijayottungavarman, the king of Kataha, belonging to the Sailendras of Java. The territories wrested by the Cholas from this king consisted of the extensive kingdom of Sri Vijaya, which at one time included Sumatra and Java, with its capital at Palembang.' "
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"Apparently it was after the Sailendra dynasty wrested the Sri Vijaya empire that relations with the Cholas soured. Is it probable that the imperial Chola was apprehensive of the conquering energy of the Sailendras ruling over the Sri Vijaya empire? There are scholars who believe that by the time Rajendra came to [the] throne, the Sailendra power was ebbing. Anyway, at its height, it encompassed all the islands from Nicobar to Sumatra and included the entire Malayan peninsula. Its capital, the city of Sri Vijaya, was believed to be to the southeast corner of Sumatra."
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"Not only did Rajendra's army sack Kadaram and the Sri Vijaya capital, but it also took the Sri Vijaya king Sangrama Vijayottungavarman captive. The kingdom was restored to him only after he acknowledged Chola suzerainty. Tamil inscriptions recovered from the region show that there was Chola military presence till at least 1088 in the Malay archipelago."
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"Information on these raiding conquests are sketchy, but scholars like R.C. Majumdar think that the emperor despatched more than one expedition to humble the Sri Vijayas. The list of 13 towns in the archipelago sacked by the Cholas has come from Rajendra's own inscriptions. Scholars have identified all but two of them. Six are located on the Malay peninsula, four on Sumatra, the other being the Nicobar islands. Scholars like Paul Wheatley have been sceptical of Rajendra's claims about the number of towns his army sacked, but most agree that a raid did take place."
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"Says George Spencer: 'The campaign is plausible because it fits the Chola pattern of compulsive expansion in this period, fits the aim of Rajendra to exceed his father's accomplishments and fits the persistent Chola need to locate fresh sources of plunder or tribute.' There is evidence to show that the king of Kambujadesa (modern Cambodia) sent a chariot to the Chola, probably to appease him so that his strategic attention does [sic] not extend further than the Malay peninsula."

http://www.sikhtimes.com/news_062903a.html

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