Buddha in the crown
Journal Data
| Type | SOURCE_BOOK |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (GB) |
| ISBN-13 | 9780195064186 |
| Open Library | OL2909941W |
| Total publications | 10 |
| Coverage period | 1991 - 1991 |
| Language | EN |
| Cited by | 14 |
| h-index | 1 |
| i10-index | 1 |
This book offers a case study in religious and cultural change. Sri Lanka is the home of one of Asia’s most pluralistic religious cultures; four major religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity - have found a permanent home within its boundaries. This makes it an ideal laboratory for the study of how religious traditions mix. John Holt here examines the career of a single deity, who began as the Indian Mahayana Buddhist bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, was assimilated to the indigenous Sinhala god N ātha, and ultimately became identified with the bodhisattva Maitreya - the next Buddha of the future, expected by virtually all Buddhist traditions of Asia
Conclusion: Maitreya-in-the-Making
Within the context of the contemporary yet traditional Sinhala Buddhist world of up-country Kandyan villages where N ā tha dē vā layas can still be found, N ā tha remains a focus of cultic life and a potential source of laukika assistance. Yet, even within these villages, he is not understood as a deity, such as Kataragama D ēviy ō, with the propensity to act dramatically, passionately, or frequently for his devotees.
Central Power, Sacred Order: Center and Periphery in the Kandyan Kingdom
Of the four major annual festivals popularly celebrated during the time of the Kandyan kings, only the Äsala Perah ära in July/August continues to be feted in great magnitude. Alut S āl mangā1yaya (the New Rice Festivals on DurutuP ōya in January), Alut Avurudda mangōlyaya (New Year’s celebration held on April 12 and 13), and K ōrtti mangōlyaya (the Festival of Lights held on 11 Poya in November) are still significant occasions at the N ōtha dēvō…
Introduction: The Setting and the Problem
Theravāda is known in the Buddhist world for its claims of doctrinal purity and for its confession of institutional conservatism, but this book is not about doctrinal purity or institutional conservatism.
N ātha and the “Rock Chief”
Symbolic rites of expressing N ātha’s laukika power also take place at the other two N ātha dēvālayas that lie within the pale of the old Kandyan kingdom but outside the Kandy District proper. Hunapahura (also known as Sunulapawra) N ātha Dēvālaya and Urulevatte N ātha Dēvālaya are located about 10 miles northwest of Matale and 15 miles northeast of Kurunegala within l mile of each other by road and within only 400 meters as the crows flies.
The Mythicization of History: N ā tha and Pitiye in Kandyan Folklore
As ethnic identity has become an increasingly crucial factor within the political dynamics of postcolonial Sri Lanka, the study of myth and ritual within Sinhala Buddhist religiocultural tradition has become a veritably relevant, contemporary, and existentially significant concern to the academic communi-ty.
The Politics of Deification in Medieval Sri Lanka: Avalokite ś vara Becomes Nātha D ē viy ō
Iconographic and epigraphic evidence indicates the cultic presence of Ava lokite ś vara from the seventh through the tenth centuries A.D. in Sri Lanka, but the Mah ā y ā na bodhisattva was not incorporated into the Sinhala Buddhist sociopolitical cosmos until the fourteenth century.
The Power of Place: Oral Traditions at Rural Kandyan N ā tha D ē v ā layas
The myth of N ā tha’s defeat at the hands of Pitiye is the most frequently told story about N ā tha Dēviyō in the Kandyan cultural area. At each of the N ā tha dēvālayas except Vegiriya, the story is repeated today with much enthusiasm and in great detail. In fact, the myth functions as a “charter,” in the Malinowskian sense, for both the Pasgama and the Kandy N ā tha dē vā layas.
The Relevant Historical and Doctrinal Background
It is difficult to know with any significant degree of certainty exactly how unity within the early Buddhist sangha was originally fractured. Suggestions in Pāli sources indicate that, even during the lifetime of the Buddha, there may have been schismatic pressures within the monkhood
Ascetic and King: The Iconography of Avalokiteśvara and Nātha
The iconographic traditions of Avalokite śvara and N ātha from the early medieval through the modem periods of Sri Lankan cultural history form a critical segment of this study. Sculptural images of the bodhisattva and the god provide a trail of anthropomorphic symbolism from the time of Ava lokite ś vara’s Mahayana cultic acceptance into the religious culture of the island in about the seventh or eighth century A.D. to Nātha’s identification wit…
Buddha in the Crown: Avalokiteśvara in the Buddhist Traditions of Sri Lanka
This book offers a case study in religious and cultural change. Sri Lanka is the home of one of Asia’s most pluralistic religious cultures; four major religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity - have found a permanent home within its boundaries. This makes it an ideal laboratory for the study of how religious traditions mix. John Holt here examines the career of a single deity, who began as the Indian Mahayana Buddhist bodhisattva A…
Buddha in the Crown: Avalokiteśvara in the Buddhist Traditions of Sri Lanka
This book offers a case study in religious and cultural change. Sri Lanka is the home of one of Asia’s most pluralistic religious cultures; four major religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity - have found a permanent home within its boundaries. This makes it an ideal laboratory for the study of how religious traditions mix. John Holt here examines the career of a single deity, who began as the Indian Mahayana Buddhist bodhisattva A…
Conclusion: Maitreya-in-the-Making
Within the context of the contemporary yet traditional Sinhala Buddhist world of up-country Kandyan villages where N ā tha dē vā layas can still be found, N ā tha remains a focus of cultic life and a potential source of laukika assistance. Yet, even within these villages, he is not understood as a deity, such as Kataragama D ēviy ō, with the propensity to act dramatically, passionately, or frequently for his devotees.
Central Power, Sacred Order: Center and Periphery in the Kandyan Kingdom
Of the four major annual festivals popularly celebrated during the time of the Kandyan kings, only the Äsala Perah ära in July/August continues to be feted in great magnitude. Alut S āl mangā1yaya (the New Rice Festivals on DurutuP ōya in January), Alut Avurudda mangōlyaya (New Year’s celebration held on April 12 and 13), and K ōrtti mangōlyaya (the Festival of Lights held on 11 Poya in November) are still significant occasions at the N ōtha dēvō…
Introduction: The Setting and the Problem
Theravāda is known in the Buddhist world for its claims of doctrinal purity and for its confession of institutional conservatism, but this book is not about doctrinal purity or institutional conservatism.
N ātha and the “Rock Chief”
Symbolic rites of expressing N ātha’s laukika power also take place at the other two N ātha dēvālayas that lie within the pale of the old Kandyan kingdom but outside the Kandy District proper. Hunapahura (also known as Sunulapawra) N ātha Dēvālaya and Urulevatte N ātha Dēvālaya are located about 10 miles northwest of Matale and 15 miles northeast of Kurunegala within l mile of each other by road and within only 400 meters as the crows flies.
The Mythicization of History: N ā tha and Pitiye in Kandyan Folklore
As ethnic identity has become an increasingly crucial factor within the political dynamics of postcolonial Sri Lanka, the study of myth and ritual within Sinhala Buddhist religiocultural tradition has become a veritably relevant, contemporary, and existentially significant concern to the academic communi-ty.
The Politics of Deification in Medieval Sri Lanka: Avalokite ś vara Becomes Nātha D ē viy ō
Iconographic and epigraphic evidence indicates the cultic presence of Ava lokite ś vara from the seventh through the tenth centuries A.D. in Sri Lanka, but the Mah ā y ā na bodhisattva was not incorporated into the Sinhala Buddhist sociopolitical cosmos until the fourteenth century.
The Power of Place: Oral Traditions at Rural Kandyan N ā tha D ē v ā layas
The myth of N ā tha’s defeat at the hands of Pitiye is the most frequently told story about N ā tha Dēviyō in the Kandyan cultural area. At each of the N ā tha dēvālayas except Vegiriya, the story is repeated today with much enthusiasm and in great detail. In fact, the myth functions as a “charter,” in the Malinowskian sense, for both the Pasgama and the Kandy N ā tha dē vā layas.
The Relevant Historical and Doctrinal Background
It is difficult to know with any significant degree of certainty exactly how unity within the early Buddhist sangha was originally fractured. Suggestions in Pāli sources indicate that, even during the lifetime of the Buddha, there may have been schismatic pressures within the monkhood
Ascetic and King: The Iconography of Avalokiteśvara and Nātha
The iconographic traditions of Avalokite śvara and N ātha from the early medieval through the modem periods of Sri Lankan cultural history form a critical segment of this study. Sculptural images of the bodhisattva and the god provide a trail of anthropomorphic symbolism from the time of Ava lokite ś vara’s Mahayana cultic acceptance into the religious culture of the island in about the seventh or eighth century A.D. to Nātha’s identification wit…
Buddha in the Crown: Avalokiteśvara in the Buddhist Traditions of Sri Lanka
This book offers a case study in religious and cultural change. Sri Lanka is the home of one of Asia’s most pluralistic religious cultures; four major religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity - have found a permanent home within its boundaries. This makes it an ideal laboratory for the study of how religious traditions mix. John Holt here examines the career of a single deity, who began as the Indian Mahayana Buddhist bodhisattva A…