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Home , Tamilakam, Tamils

Buddhism among in and Īlam

Part 3

Extension and Conclusions

Editor-in Chief: Peter Schalk Co-Editor: Astrid van Nahl

Uppsala 2013

ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS

Historia Religionum 33

Buddhism among Tamils in Tamilakam and Īlam

Part 3

Extension and Conclusions

Editor-in-Chief: Peter Schalk Co-editor: Astrid van Nahl

Uppsala 2013

©The Authors ISSN 0439-2132 ISBN 978-91-554-8412-5 Printed in Sweden by Edita Västra Aros, a climate neutral com- pany, Västerås 2012 Distributor: Uppsala University Library, Box 510, SE-751 20 Uppsala www.uu.se [email protected]

The picture on the front cover shows the statue of the Vallipu- rambuddha which is now in Wat Benja, Bangkok.

Abstract Buddhism among Tamils in Tamilakam and Īlam. Part 3. Extension and Conclusions. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Historia Religio- num 32. Editor-in-Chief: Peter Schalk. Co-editor: Astrid van Nahl. Uppsala: AUU, 2012.

This book is the result of a conference in Bangkok in January 2012 mainly financed by Vetenskapsrådet in Stockholm (426-2011-1299). In Bangkok, not only pre-colonial Buddhism among Tamils was dis- cussed but also Buddhism during the colonial and post-colonial pe- riod, like the Buddhism of Pēriyar, of the Ambedkar movement in Yālppāṇam () in the 1950s, and the expansion of siṃhala budu samayam (Siṃhala Buddhism) into areas of Tamil speakers. The field of Buddhist Studies—in and the —has largely ignored the traditions, activities, and cultural products of Tamil-speaking Buddhists in southern , former pre-colonial Tamilakam, present Tamilnāṭu, and Īlam (Sri Laṃkā). This confer- ence, building on previous work done by the applicant, sought to ex- pand the range of conversation from South Indian and Īlam special- ists to scholars of southern Asian “Buddhisms” in Southeast . So much of Tamil-speaking religious and literary culture—whether in India or Īlam —is linked in as yet little understood ways to the various of , including (the site of the confer- ence). Based on prefigurations of Buddhism in and Pāli, rep- resentatives of , foremost of and religion (Caivam), developed an indigenised form of . In this volume it is called tamilppauttam (or Tamil Pauttam) in accordance with a tradition by scholars using Tamil. The concept of tamilppaut- tam is part of a rich indigenous Buddhist terminology that presents an emic aspect of Buddhism among Tamils and is therefore elabo- rately brought out in this volume. In the history of the European study of South Asian Buddhism— stemming back to the mid-nineteenth century—the Tamil-speaking Buddhist communities of southern India and Īlam have been rela- tively under-studied, but provide an important link in dialogue and confrontation among the diverse Buddhist landscapes of and the largely Theravāda communities of Īlam. In colonial and post- colonial times, Buddhism has been instrumentalised, as a liberating force from the caste system within the Tamil Dalit movement and also 8 Abstract as a creative force of a new Buddhist identity in Īlam as alternative to Siṃhala Budu Samayam. The problem for Buddhists among Tamils in Īlam today is that that their historical tradition is questioned by both Tamil Caivas(Shaivas) and Siṃhala Buddhists. Each conference paper contributed to a clearer understanding of the role of Tamil-speaking Buddhists in textual, literary and political cultures, as emissaries of Buddhism among Tamils in past and pre- sent. The goal of the conference was to foster critical inter-regional dia- logue on topics concerning the transmission, cultures, and contacts among various forms of southern Asian “Buddhisms”.

Peter Schalk September 2012

List of Content

Abstract 7 Abbreviations 11 Anne Monius, Peter Schalk Preface 13 Peter Schalk Buddhism among Tamils. An Introduction 21 Alvappillai Veluppillai Comments on the History of Research on Buddhism among Tamils 33 Pictorial Documentation, between pp. 102 and 103 Anne Monius ‘Sanskrit is the Mother of All Tamil Words’: Further Thoughts on the Vīracōliyam and its Commentary 103 Peter Schalk Eḷāra and Duṭṭhagāmaṇī – again 131 A. J. V. Chandrakanthan Conversion to Buddhism as a Form of Socio-Political Protest: Tamil Sub-Nationalisms and the Ambedkar-Model of Buddhist Conversions in Jaffna 1962–64 161 Jude Lal Fernando War by other Means. Expansion of Siṃhala Buddhism into the Tamil in “Post-War” Īlam 175 References 239 List of Pictures 263

Abbreviations

BaT 1 Buddhism among Tamils. Part 1 BaT 2 Buddhism among Tamils. Part 2 Bat 3 Buddhism among Tamils. Part 3 BWPE A Buddhist Woman’s Path to Enlightenment CFA Cease Fire Agreement CTI Ceylon GoSL Government of JHU Jātika Heḷa Urumaya LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil SLFP Sri Lanka Freedom Party TNA UNP