|
Dhammapāla
Dhammapāla was the name of two or more great Theravada Buddhist commentators. The earlier, born in Kanchipuram, is known to us from both the '' Gandhavamsa'' and to have lived at Badara Tittha Vihara south of modern Chennai, and to have written the commentaries on seven of the shorter canonical books (consisting almost entirely of verses) and also the commentary on the Netti, perhaps the oldest Pali work outside the canon. Extracts from the latter work, and the whole of three out of the seven others, have been published in Pali by the Pali Text Society. These works show great learning, exegetical skill and sound judgment. But as to the meaning of words, or to discussions of the ethical import of his texts, very little can be gathered from his writings of value for the social history of his time. Though in all probability a Tamil by birth, he declares, in the opening lines of those of his works that have been edited, that he followed the tradition of the Great Monastery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theravada
''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed Theravādins, have preserved their version of Gautama Buddha's teaching or ''Buddha Dhamma'' in the Pāli Canon for over two millennia. The Pāli Canon is the most complete Buddhist canon surviving in a classical Indian language, Pāli, which serves as the school's sacred language and ''lingua franca''.Crosby, Kate (2013), ''Theravada Buddhism: Continuity, Diversity, and Identity'', p. 2. In contrast to '' Mahāyāna'' and '' Vajrayāna'', Theravāda tends to be conservative in matters of doctrine ('' pariyatti'') and monastic discipline (''vinaya''). One element of this conservatism is the fact that Theravāda rejects the authenticity of the Mahayana sutras (which appeared c. 1st century BCE onwards). Modern Ther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Badara Tittha Vihara
Badara Tittha Vihara (also Badaratittha, Padaratittha ) is the name of an historic Theravada Buddhist '' vihara'' in what is now the modern Tamil Nadu state of India. In the Gandhavamsa Badaratittha is known to us from the '' Gandhavamsa'' (or '' Cullagandhavamsa''), a 17th-century ''Pali'' work by '' Nandapañña'' that recounts post-canonical Pali books written in Burma and Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an .... The ''Gandhavamsa'' states that Badara Tittha Vihara was the dwelling place of '' Ācariya Dhammapāla'', an early Theravadin commentator from Kanchipuram. References Buddhism amongst Tamils {{TamilNadu-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamil People
The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethno-linguistic group who trace their ancestry mainly to India’s South India, southern state of Tamil Nadu, union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry and to Sri Lanka. Tamils who speak the Tamil Language and are born in :Social groups of Tamil Nadu, Tamil clans are considered Tamilians. Tamils constitute 5.9% of the population in India (concentrated mainly in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), 15% in Sri Lanka (excluding Sri Lankan Moors), 7% in Tamil Malaysians, Malaysia, 6% in Tamil Mauritians, Mauritius, and 5% in Indian Singaporeans, Singapore. From the 4th century BCE, urbanisation and mercantile activity along the western and eastern coasts of what is today Kerala and Tamil Nadu led to the develo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5th-century Buddhist Monks
The 5th century is the time period from 401 ( CDI) through 500 ( D) ''Anno Domini'' (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia. It saw the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, which came to an end in 476 AD. This empire had been ruled by a succession of weak emperors, with the real political might being increasingly concentrated among military leaders. Internal instability allowed a Visigoth army to reach and ransack Rome in 410. Some recovery took place during the following decades, but the Western Empire received another serious blow when a second foreign group, the Vandals, occupied Carthage, capital of an extremely important province in Africa. Attempts to retake the province were interrupted by the invasion of the Huns under Attila. After Attila's defeat, both Eastern and Western empires joined forces for a final assault on Vandal North Africa, but this campaign was a sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, and southeast of the Arabian Sea; it is separated from the Indian subcontinent by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. Sri Lanka shares a maritime border with India and Maldives. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is its legislative capital, and Colombo is its List of cities in Sri Lanka, largest city and financial centre. Sri Lanka has a population of around 22 million (2020) and is a multinational state, home to diverse cultures, languages, and ethnicities. The Sinhalese people, Sinhalese are the majority of the nation's population. The Tamils, who are a large minority group, have also played an influential role in the island's history. Other long establ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the current capital of Colombo in the North Central Province, on the banks of the historic Malvathu River. The city is now a World Heritage Site famous for its well-preserved ruins of the ancient Sinhalese civilization. While Mahavamsa place the founding of the city in 437 BCE, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it a major human settlement on the island for almost three millennia and one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in Asia. It is the cradle of the Hydraulic Sinhalese civilization, Theravada Buddhism, and the longest-serving ancient capital of Sri Lanka that has survived for 1500 years. Moreover, It was the first cap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maha Vihara
Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas. Mahaviharas of India A range of monasteries grew up in ancient Magadha (modern Bihar) and Bengal. According to Tibetan sources, five great mahaviharas stood out during the Pāla period: Vikramashila, the premier university of the era; Nalanda, past its prime but still illustrious, Somapura, Odantapurā, and Jaggadala. The five monasteries formed a network; "all of them were under state supervision" and there existed "a system of co-ordination among them . . it seems from the evidence that the different seats of Buddhist learning that functioned in eastern India under the Pāla were regarded together as forming a network, an interlinked group of institutions," and it was common for great scholars to move easily from position to position among them. Nalanda The famous Nalanda Mahavihara was founded a few centuries earlier ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pali Text Society
The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts". Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The Pāli texts are the oldest collection of Buddhist scriptures preserved in the language in which they were written down. The society first compiled, edited, and published Latin script versions of a large corpus of Pāli literature, including the Pāli Canon, as well as commentarial, exegetical texts, and histories. It publishes translations of many Pāli texts. It also publishes ancillary works including dictionaries, concordances, books for students of Pāli and a journal. History Thomas William Rhys Davids was one of three British civil servants who were posted to Sri Lanka, in the 19th century, the others being George Turnour, and Robert Caesar Childers (1838–1876). At this time Buddhism in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) was struggli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia via the Silk Road. It is the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers (Buddhists) who comprise seven percent of the global population. The Buddha taught the Middle Way, a path of spiritual development that avoids both extreme asceticism and hedonism. It aims at liberation from clinging and craving to things which are impermanent (), incapable of satisfying ('), and without a lasting essence (), ending the cycle of death and rebirth (). A summary of this path is expressed in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind with observance of Buddhist ethics and meditation. Other widely observed practices include: monasticism; "taking refuge" in the Buddha, the , and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.svg "Click for more on -> Buddhism")