Travels with Xuanzang Fall 2019

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Travels with Xuanzang OLLI-DC Spring 2021 Handout # 6 638-642 3000 miles Amaravati Stupa aniconic program 1st c bc; iconic program 100-200ad limestone Amaravati, aniconic panel Iconic panel Cave sanctuaries Major undertaking 100bc-200ad 20 major sites and many minor sites Age of mercantile enterprise Wealthy traders, monk, nuns, others Why: religious merit –good karma Monks locate at strategic points along Trade routes Rock-cut caves at Karle, 2nd c bc – 5th c ad “All around the temple, engraved on the stone walls, are carvings depicting the events of the Tathāgata when he was practicing the bodhisattva way in his previous lives, such as the good omens of his realization of sainthood and the spiritual signs of his entering nirvana, including all major and minor items carved in full detail. Outside the gate of the monastery, at the south and north and to the right and left, are stone elephants, each standing at a point. I heard some native people say that these elephants have occasionally trumpeted and caused earthquakes.” Xuanzang, p.297 Ajanta Caves built 460-480 “In the eastern part of the country there is a great mountain whose peaks join together to form a screen, with steep cliffs rising in a range. In the deep valley there is a monastery with lofty halls and spacious houses on the peaks at the back and storied pavilions and multi- tiered terraces standing before the cliffs, facing the gully. This monastery was built by the arhat Ācāra (known as Suoxing, “Behavior,” in Chinese), who was a native of West India.” Xuanzang, p. 297 Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Ajanta Buddha “Not far to the north of the city [Konkapur] is a wood of tāla (fan palm) trees more than thirty li in circuit. The leaves of this kind of tree are long, broad, and glossy, and they are used as writing paper in various countries.” Xuanzang, p. 295.

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