Nalanda University reopens after hundreds of years!

[Contrarian]

It's not uncommon to see Hindu deities alongside Buddha statues temples and vise versa in Hindu temples in Sri Lanka

Same In India as well.

 

[Indrani]

i. Those who did it are long dead and gone.

ii. Any small apology will be too little too late.

iii. Those who are disturbed and do not approve of destruction etc will wash their hands off - they did not destroy in the first place anyway.

iv. Those who are proud will never apologize either.

1. Those who did it may be long dead and gone but they are the heroes to the current set of Muslims. They are leads on whose footsteps the current generation wants to follow. Therein lies the danger. To say they are dead and gone and do not matter is delusion.
2. Apology is the only thing one can do and must do to express regret and remorse over a wrong doing. If not even capable of that, that what hopes do you have of any reconciliation ever.
3. Washing hands off is only self-serving if one is still holding on to and exulting in the other aspects of the same perpetrators of crime.
4. Then there will never be any trust between these communities ever.

 

[DarkSeid]

Ganadeviyan nuwana denna
Sarasawathi pahala venna
Siyalu roga durukaranna
Nitara vandimi thunuruvanna

Translation as follows,
God Ganesha, give us wisdom
Goddess Saraswathi, be born
To abandon all the diseases
Always worship the Triple Gem.

 

[Indrani]

It was due to the impact of India with other countries(including Sri Lanka) mainly associated with political, economical & cultural relationships. Hence, past Buddhists/non Buddhists in those countries also embraced the polytheism in later times. Specially, God Ganesha haven't found in Buddhist sculptures until late Gupta period in India.
Ganesha in world religions

Ganesh (Pillaiyar/Ganadevi) in Sri Lanka

LOL. It is no brainer considering even Buddhism spread because of the influence of India. So quite possibly they were polytheistic just like India was before the advent of Buddhism too. Shintoism for eg. is very similar to Hinduism.

 

[Chak Bamu]

1. Those who did it may be long dead and gone but they are the heroes to the current set of Muslims. They are leads on whose footsteps the current generation wants to follow. Therein lies the danger. To say they are dead and gone and do not matter is delusion.
2. Apology is the only thing one can do and must do to express regret and remorse over a wrong doing. If not even capable of that, that what hopes do you have of any reconciliation ever.
3. Washing hands off is only self-serving if one is still holding on to and exulting in the other aspects of the same perpetrators of crime.
4. Then there will never be any trust between these communities ever.

Nobody cares about Bakhtiar Khilji, who destroyed Nalanda. He is remembered for winning Bengal with sixteen riders in a lightening advance to the capital.

Why would I consider a person like him a hero? Most Pakistanis do not even know his name.

All of your points are irrelevant as far as Pakistan is concerned. It has a lot to do with your world-view and hindutva agenda. I fail to see how any Pakistan 'apologizing' for destruction of Nalanda will accomplish anything. I mean, yeah it was a bad consequence, but none of my forefathers has anything to do with it.

Get over yourselves already.... Considering yourself a victim (individual or collective) is one of the worst things you can do to yourself. It damages a person's personality.

 

[DarkSeid]

Buddhism spread because of the influence of India.

Didn't object to it. Later, Sri Lanka contributed too.

So quite possibly they were polytheistic just like India was before the advent of Buddhism too. Shintoism for eg. is very similar to Hinduism.

May be. Sri Lanka can also be considered as a polytheistic country before the advent of Buddhism.

 

[Indrani]

Nobody cares about Bakhtiar Khilji, who destroyed Nalanda. He is remembered for winning Bengal with sixteen riders in a lightening advance to the capital.

Why would I consider a person like him a hero? Most Pakistanis do not even know his name.

All of your points are irrelevant as far as Pakistan is concerned. It has a lot to do with your world-view and hindutva agenda. I fail to see how any Pakistan 'apologizing' for destruction of Nalanda will accomplish anything. I mean, yeah it was a bad consequence, but none of my forefathers has anything to do with it.

Get over yourselves already.... Considering yourself a victim (individual or collective) is one of the worst things you can do to yourself. It damages a person's personality.

I am not just talking of Bakhtiar Khilji, but all of your historical heros. The Ghouris and the Ghaznawis on whom you name your missiles and who are part of your folklore and deemed admirable. Even if you remember Bakhtiar Khilji only for his lightening advance to the capital, the fact is that he was responsible for unpardonable offences against the people you are at odds with even today. To them he is a villain. Saying his techniques were excellent is no consolation to those who were at the receiving end of his application of his techniques.

India today has been inherited by the descendants of those who were victims of Islamic invasions. Today's mistrust between India and Pakistan is nothing but a continuum of that history. You can acknowledge it or you can ignore it.

Either way, I do not see it as damaging to the Hindu psych. It has just made us more alert and aware of the people we live with and hence prepared for any exigencies.

 

[TejasMk3]

You mean the first character in the statue isnt it??
Frankly I dont see much difference.

Trust me this is not first time it has happened.I had told a friend on PDF (banned right now) about it when it had happened last time, as in some discussion from PDF was found on Swamy's FB page the very next day. It was a thread started by @Chak Bamu about Delhi and its history.

One thing about the facebook page though is that it is not run by Swamy, even though his name is on it. The work is all done by Shanknaad. Their content is mostly made out of fan submissions, and Swami has a lot of fans.
refer:

https://twitter.com/x/status/446144143165648896

https://twitter.com/x/status/462920713087643649

Reproducing content is not just limited to this though, I've seen stuff from forums - like analysis of foreign policy and defence related things landing up on newspapers. esp.from places like BRF.

 

[Chak Bamu]

I am not just talking of Bakhtiar Khilji, but all of your historical heros. The Ghouris and the Ghaznawis on whom you name your missiles and who are part of your folklore and deemed admirable. Even if you remember Bakhtiar Khilji only for his lightening advance to the capital, the fact is that he was responsible for unpardonable offences against the people you are at odds with even today. To them he is a villain. Saying his techniques were excellent is no consolation to those who were at the receiving end of his application of his techniques.

India today has been inherited by the descendants of those who were victims of Islamic invasions. Today's mistrust between India and Pakistan is nothing but a continuum of that history. You can acknowledge it or you can ignore it.

Either way, I do not see it as damaging to the Hindu psych. It has just made us more alert and aware of the people we live with and hence prepared for any exigencies.

Lady, basically you are talking to yourself here. Your assumptions are messing you up. If we were to meet somewhere and talk, we could talk continuously for days and not come to a conclusion.

I can see some sense in your narrative, but it is hidden under so much rhetoric that engaging you seems an exercise in futility. There are many layers one has to address before one gets to the heart of things and that is why I shudder at the prospect of engaging you. I do not have your drive, stamina, or perhaps time.

It is quite pointless now to continue to draw meaning from events that happened a thousand years ago. You are still upset about what was destroyed. To you it was something virtuous and beautiful. I respect that. For what it is worth, I apologize to you for what your people lost and hope that it makes a tiny stitch in that impossible wound. But, not a leaf stirs without God's permission and Will, and here we are talking about an end of an age. It happened because its time had come.

India's entire near-West had gone through a seismic shift and it was only a matter of time it had its effect on India itself. Between Muhammad Bin Qasim and Mahmud Ghaznavi, there was a gap of more than two centuries and during this time Muslims had become an entrenched and organic part of at least lower Indus river system from Arabian Sea to beyond Multan. Between Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammad Ghuri, there was again a pause of perhaps a century. During this time Muslims extended their influence to beyond Lahore. From 8th to 12 century, there was time to develop a response to a challenge that was sure to confront Indian civilization. And yet all this time was wasted. It baffles the mind, but one can not argue against reality.

Sometimes the beautiful must make way for something inevitable that further develops and evolves into a mature civilization that stands on its own. Mughals stood on ruins of Sultanate of Delhi and struck a bargain with Rajputs to allow South Asia to extend its reach into Central Asia with far-reaching consequences. Today's India is a reflection of that reality which found its expression upon the unwieldy extent of Aurangzeb's Empire. The British marveled at the revenue system of Mughals. This system had at its base the hard work of Rajput genius - Raja Man Singh & Co. The British made some changes, but the system remained essentially unaltered. Even today one can see vestiges of that system at work.

I can not say how you understand it all and if I am able to put a tiny little dent in your world-view. But all I can say is that you can not keep looking back to a bygone age and feel anguish at a later but equally bygone age. Today's India is an exciting place, I can imagine, and you should just be happy about it. I mean come on, lighten up. Hinduism has weathered plenty of adversity, and though it would continue to change and to adapt like all living religions, it will stick around. You can not have a problem with that, can you?

If it is any consolation, answering to you made me miss Maghrib namaz with jamaat. I have to offer namaz by myself. Khush?

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

Simply it was due to the influence of Hinduism to Buddhism in later times. In conservative Buddhism, worship of god hadn't been a part of life. Some call it as protestant Buddhism which adopts some cultural aspects of Hinduism. This two beliefs are followed by separately. Hence,most of the time there are separate places constructed for gods called as devala.

Read this,

The end of the Anuradhapura era & Hindu influence​

King Kashyapa 1 made Sigiriya his capital. As a result, for a period of about eight years, Anuradhapura was not the capital city. But Mugalan, who came to the throne next, made Anuradhapura the capital once more. From that time till 1017, no ruler wanted to change the capital. The invaders however, did not like Anuradhapura. They broke down and destroyed the temples there and plundered all the wealth. They ruined the city, abandoned it and made Polonnaruwa, the next capital. They named it Jayanathapura.

It became a part of the Chola empire. These foreigners were not Buddhists. They were Hindus. One aim of King Raja Raja was to conquer countries and spread Hinduism. In Sri Lanka too, the Cholas tried to achieve this ambition. By this time, there were people who had been followers of Hinduism for generations. One thing they lacked badly was administrative powers. Some of them were wealthy and held high office under the king.​

Hinduism in Sri Lanka, has a longer history than Buddhism. During the period before King Devanampiyatissa, Hinduism flourished here. King Pandukabhaya, who made Anuradhapura the capital city, was also a follower of Hinduism. The kings, who were engaged in the struggle for power to ascend the throne, brought in Tamil soldiers. Some of them never went back. They settled down here. There were a lot of people who descended from these Tamil soldiers. They set up villages here.

Almost all of them were Hindus. They built Hindu devales and for some of these the Sinhala kings too helped. Many kings had been in the practice of getting Hindu religious ceremonies like Yaga, performed. With all this, they were not as powerful as the Buddhists. But with the spread of Chola power, Hindus became very powerful and the Buddhists were cornered. The Chola rulers made the devale the most important centre. The high place the temple occupied, all these years, was taken by the Hindu religious centres. Buddhist temples were neglected.

​

They started building new devales, even on temple grounds. With this came Hindu influence, on our art and architecture. The 'Shiva Devale' of Polonnaruwa is one of them. Most of the gods and goddesses respected in Hinduism, influenced Sri Lankans. They also started worshipping gods like Vishnu. Shiva, Ganesh and Murugan and goddesses like Luxhmi, Durga and Pattini. It did not take long for the belief in these gods to spread here.

The Buddhists embraced the worship of these gods. They publicly performed poojas for these gods. The Hindu priests who were Brahmins, did not follow the simple life style of the Buddhist priests. They were used to enjoying the luxuries of life. Moreover, they believed in the caste system. They led household lives, got married and had children, who also became Brahmin priests. They learnt from the Vedas and the Vedantas.

Hinduism is in the Sanskrit language and Sanskrit spread in Sri Lanka. Due to all this influence of Hinduism, very soon, the power of the Sinhala people decreased in Pihiti Rata. It came under Chola rule. The Cholas oppressed the Sinhala people and collected taxes. The poor became poorer and the Cholas on the other hand did all they could to stabilize their power. They even erected a fortress.​

This fort was built in a place called 'Rakpankata' in Polonnaruwa. From here, they wanted to spread their influence not only in Malaya Rata and Maya Rata but also in Ruhuna. The Sinhala people in Pihiti Rata who could not tolerate Chola oppression, left their villages and fled to the Ruhuna. The people in Ruhuna were sad to hear of the suffering they underwent. They began to hate the Cholas.

It is said that my namesake loved "Buddhism" and he have even sponsored the construction of Buddhist Vihara in Nagapattinam, an important port in Chola Empire.
And it is also recorded, that Rajaraja rebuilt Anuradhapura from Ashes, destroyed by the earlier Cholas before him.
It is still debatable though. For some reasons, Pandya Tamils were very friendly with Sinhalese leading to war with Chola tamils.

 

[dil_dil]

In one word - yes. But that is not surprising. We also share same last names - Wanchoo, Dar, Bhatt are common among both Kashmiri Hindus and Muslims.

Dhar is hindu pundit surname and dar is muslim kashmiri surname.

 

[DarkSeid]

It is said that my namesake loved "Buddhism" and he have even sponsored the construction of Buddhist Vihara in Nagapattinam, an important port in Chola Empire.
And it is also recorded, that Rajaraja rebuilt Anuradhapura from Ashes, destroyed by the earlier Cholas before him.
It is still debatable though.

Yes,of course. We heard that earlier Chola invaders were Buddhists.

Pandya Tamils were very friendly with Sinhalese leading to war with Chola tamils.

Even there were intermarriages between them.

The Pandyan king Parakrama Pandya sought assistance from cousin Parakramabahu I in 1167 to face an internal strife in his country.
Lankapura Dandanatha - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Sinhala king meddled in the conflict between Cholas and Pandyas in the Tamil kingdom. He supported the Pandyas against the Cholas. When Vira Pandya attacked the Chola king Parantaka II, Sinhala King Mahinda IV (956-972) supported Vira Pandya. Parantaka defeated Vira Pandya and promptly invaded Sri Lanka.
In a subsequent episode, Chola King Parantaka I (907-953) challenged Pandya ruler Marvarman Rajasimha II (905-20) inside the Tamil kingdom. Rajasimha sought the assistance of Sinhala king Kassapa V, who dispatched an army. Rajasimha lost the war and fled to Sri Lanka taking with him the crown and other regalia.
Sinhala king and South Indian invasions

Also there were times when Pallawa Kings and Sinhala Kings were on good terms.
King Manavamma
Prince Manavamma ascends the throne

And must see article
When Buddhism was a bridge between Lanka and Tamil Nadu

 

[TopCat]

This must be your own personal view,the thread doesn't mention any thing that Buddhism was the best thing nor Hinduism was the worst thing. Will u let me know why did the Buddhist left Afghanistan,what about the Buddhist insurgency in Chittagaong

The most enlightened people are the ones left Hinduism. As they were inherently smart, they accepted Islam as they found the religion even better....

 

[Indrani]

Lady, basically you are talking to yourself here. Your assumptions are messing you up. If we were to meet somewhere and talk, we could talk continuously for days and not come to a conclusion.

I can see some sense in your narrative, but it is hidden under so much rhetoric that engaging you seems an exercise in futility. There are many layers that one has to address before one gets to the heart of things and that is why I shudder at the prospect of engaging you. I do not have your drive, stamina, or perhaps time.

It is quite pointless now to continue to draw meaning from events that happened a thousand years ago. You are still upset about what was destroyed. To you it was something virtuous and beautiful. I respect that. For what it is worth, I apologize to you for what your people lost and hope that it makes a tiny stitch in that impossible wound. But, not a leaf stirs without God's permission and will, and here we are talking about an end of an age. It happened because its time had come.

India's entire near-West had gone through a seismic shift and it was only a matter of time it had its effect on India itself. Between Muhammad Bin Qasim and Mahmud Ghaznavi, there was a gap of more than two centuries and during this time Muslims had become an entrenched and organic part of at least lower Indus river system from Arabian Sea to beyond Multan. Between Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammad Ghuri, there was again a pause of perhaps a century. During this time Muslims extended their influence to beyond Lahore. From 8th to 12 century, there was time to develop a response to a challenge that was sure to confront Indian civilization. And yet all this time was wasted. It baffles the mind, but one can not argue against reality.

Sometimes the beautiful must make way for something inevitable that further develops and evolves into a mature civilization that stands on its own. Mughals stood on ruins of Sultanate of Delhi and struck a bargain with Rajputs to allow South Asia to extend its reach into Central Asia with far-reaching consequences. Today's India is a reflection of that reality which found its expression upon the unwieldy extent of Aurangzeb's Empire. The British marveled at the revenue system of Mughals. This system had at its base the hard work of Rajput genius - Raja Man Singh & Co. The British made some changes, but the system remained essentially unaltered. Even today one can see vestiges of that system at work.

I can not say how you understand it all and if I am able to put a tiny little dent in your world-view. But all I can say is that you can not keep looking back to a bygone age and feel anguish at a later but equally bygone age. Today's India is an exciting place, I can imagine, and you should just be happy about it. I mean come on, lighten up. Hinduism has weathered plenty of adversity, and though it would continue to change and to adapt like all living religions, it will stick around. You can not have a problem with that, can you?

If it is any consolation, answering to you made me miss Maghrib namaz with jamaat. I have to offer namaz by myself. Khush?

Hmm, you went into cosmology to explain the events of the subcontinent. Yes, that is the nature of the world and universe itself, there is continuum followed by destruction and then continuum again followed by destruction, and that is how evolution takes place. There is no overlooking this fact. Cause and effect is also woven into the fabric of the universe. So is light and dark, good and bad, right and wrong, safe and dangerous, all the opposites. But then this discussion was not about the cosmology and the nature of the universe and evolution. We were talking at a much lower level than that. At a level of human behavior, history, and memories. The worm's eye view so to speak.

There would be no anguish for the bygone age if we did not see the replication of the same events in this age. They say those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. So when people talk about, discuss about, and analyse history here on PDF, it is just an engaging way of learning history and about ourselves.

If you were to make light of history and say oh it was meant to happen and so it happened, then remember the present too was meant to happen and will happen, so will the future. You can have a reductionist's view where everything is fragmented and history has no bearing on our present and the present is just a freak isolated instance in time and space and history serves no purpose, then I can only point to the realities of our nations and tell you it is not so.

Anyway, I am sorry you missed your prayers with the jamaat.

As far as being messed up goes, I see no evidence of that either. It is just my view of history and no, it has no bearing on how I treat people around me or how people treat me. Things are fine.

 

[Levina]

One thing about the facebook page though is that it is not run by Swamy, even though his name is on it. The work is all done by Shanknaad. Their content is mostly made out of fan submissions, and Swami has a lot of fans.
refer:

https://twitter.com/x/status/446144143165648896

https://twitter.com/x/status/462920713087643649

Reproducing content is not just limited to this though, I've seen stuff from forums - like analysis of foreign policy and defence related things landing up on newspapers. esp.from places like BRF.

Its a verified account so I guess Shanknaad is managing his PR. Lol.