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Buddhism is an ancientIndian religion, which arose in and around the ancient Kingdom ofMagadha (now inBihar,India). It is based on the teachings ofGautama Buddha[note 1], who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE and was deemed a "Buddha" ("Awakened One"[3]). However, Buddhist doctrine holds that there were other Buddhas before him. Buddhism spread outside of Magadha starting in the Buddha's lifetime.
During the reign of theMauryan EmperorAshoka, the Buddhist community split into two branches: theMahāsāṃghika and theSthaviravāda, each of which spread throughout India and split into numerous sub-sects.[4] In modern times, two major branches of Buddhism exist: theTheravada inSri Lanka andSoutheast Asia, and theMahayana throughout theHimalayas and East Asia. The Buddhist tradition ofVajrayana is sometimes classified as a part of Mahayana Buddhism, but some scholars consider it to be a different branch altogether.[5]
The practice of Buddhism lost influence in India around the 7th century CE, after the collapse of theGupta Empire. The last large state to support Buddhism—thePala Empire—fell in the 12th century. By the end of the 12th century, Buddhism had largely disappeared from India with the exception of the Himalayan region and isolated remnants in parts of south India. However, since the 19th century, modern revivals of Buddhism have included theMaha Bodhi Society, theVipassana movement, and theDalit Buddhist movement spearheaded byB. R. Ambedkar. There has also been a growth inTibetan Buddhism with the arrival ofTibetan refugees and theTibetan government in exile to India, following theChinese occupation of Tibet in 1950.[6] According to the 2011 Census there are 8.4 million Buddhists in India (0.70% of the total population).
The Buddha was born to aKapilvastu head of theShakya republic namedSuddhodana. He employedsramana practices in a specific way, denouncing extreme asceticism and sole concentration-meditation, which were sramanic practices. Instead, he propagated aMiddle Way between the extremes of self-indulgence andself-mortification, in which self-restraint and compassion are central elements.
According to tradition, as recorded in the Pali Canon and the Agamas, Siddhārtha Gautama attained awakening sitting under apipal tree, now known as theBodhi tree inBodh Gaya, India. Gautama referred to himself as thetathagata, the "thus-gone"; the developing tradition later regarded him to be as aSamyaksambuddha, a "Perfectly Self-Awakened One." According to tradition, he found patronage in the ruler ofMagadha, emperorBimbisāra. The emperor accepted Buddhism as a personal faith and allowed the establishment of many Buddhist "Vihāras." This eventually led to the renaming of the entire region as Bihar.[7]
According to tradition, in the Deer Park inSarnath nearVārāṇasī in northern India, Buddha set in motion theWheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the group of five companions with whom he had previously sought liberation. They, together with the Buddha, formed the firstSaṅgha, the company of Buddhist monks, and hence, the first formation of theTriple Gem (Buddha,Dharma andSangha) was completed.
For the remaining years of his life, the Buddha is said to have travelled in theGangetic Plain of Northern India and other regions.
Buddha died inKushinagar,Uttar Pradesh, India.[8][9] Modern historians place his death, according to tradition at the age of 80, in the decades around 400 BC, several decades later than the date in Buddhist tradition.
Followers of Buddhism calledBuddhists in English, referred to themselves asSaugata.[10] Other terms wereSakyans orSakyabhiksu in ancient India.[11][12]Sakyaputto was another term used by Buddhists, as well asAriyasavako[13] andJinaputto.[14] Buddhist scholarDonald S. Lopez states they also used the termBauddha.[15] The scholar Richard Cohen in his discussion about the 5th-centuryAjanta Caves, states thatBauddha is not attested therein, and was used by outsiders to describe Buddhists, except for occasional use as an adjective.[16]
The Buddha did not appoint any successor and asked his followers to work toward liberation following the instructions he had left. The teachings of the Buddha existed only in oral traditions. The Sangha held a number ofBuddhist councils in order to reach consensus on matters of Buddhist doctrine and practice.
The Early Buddhist Schools were the various schools in whichpre-sectarian Buddhism split in the first few centuries after the passing away of the Buddha (in about the 5th century BC). The earliest division was between the majority Mahāsāṃghika and the minority Sthaviravāda. Some existing Buddhist traditions follow the vinayas of early Buddhist schools.
The Dharmaguptakas made more efforts than any other sect to spread Buddhism outside India, to areas such as Afghanistan,Central Asia, and China, and they had great success in doing so.[19] Therefore, most countries which adopted Buddhism from China, also adopted the Dharmaguptaka vinaya and ordination lineage forbhikṣus andbhikṣuṇīs.
During the early period ofChinese Buddhism, the Indian Buddhist sects recognized as important, and whose texts were studied, were the Dharmaguptakas,Mahīśāsakas,Kāśyapīyas Sarvāstivādins, and the Mahāsāṃghikas.[20] Complete vinayas preserved in theChinese Buddhist canon include theMahīśāsaka Vinaya (T. 1421),Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya (T. 1425),Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (T. 1428),Sarvāstivāda Vinaya (T. 1435), and theMūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya (T. 1442). Also preserved are a set ofĀgamas (Sūtra Piṭaka), a complete Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma Piṭaka, and many other texts of the early Buddhist schools.
Early Buddhist schools in India often divided modes of Buddhist practice into several "vehicles" (yāna). For example, theVaibhāṣika Sarvāstivādins are known to have employed the outlook of Buddhist practice as consisting of the Three Vehicles:[21]
In the sixth and fifth centuries BC, economic development made the merchant class increasingly important. Merchants were attracted to Buddhist teachings, which contrasted with existing Brahmin religious practices. The latter focused on the social position of the Brahmin caste to the exclusion of the interests of other classes.[22] Buddhism became prominent in merchant communities and then spread throughout the Mauryan empire through commercial connections and along trade routes.[23] In this way, Buddhism also spread through thesilk route into central Asia.[24]
The Mauryan Empire reached its peak at the time of emperor Ashoka, who converted to Buddhism after theBattle of Kalinga. This heralded a long period of stability under the Buddhist emperor. The power of the empire was vast—ambassadors were sent to other countries topropagate Buddhism.[25] Greek envoyMegasthenes describes the wealth of the Mauryan capital.Stupas,pillars, andedicts on stone remain atSanchi, Sarnath, andMathura, indicating the extent of the empire.
Emperor Ashoka the Great (304 BC–232 BC) was the ruler of the Mauryan Empire from 273 BC to 232 BC. Ashoka reigned over most of India after a series of military campaigns. Emperor Ashoka's kingdom stretched from South Asia and beyond, from present-day parts of Afghanistan in the north andBalochistan in the west, toBengal andAssam in the east, and as far south asMysore.
According to legend, emperor Ashoka was overwhelmed by guilt after the conquest ofKalinga, following which he accepted Buddhism as a personal faith with the help of his Brahmin mentors Radhasvami and Manjushri. Ashoka established monuments marking several significant sites in the life ofŚakyamuni Buddha, and according to Buddhist tradition was closely involved in the preservation and transmission of Buddhism.[26]
In 2018, excavations inLalitgiri inOdisha by theArchaeological Survey of India revealed four monasteries along with ancient seals and inscriptions which show cultural continuity from post-Mauryan period to 13 century AD. InRatnagiri andKonark in Odisha, Buddhist history as discovered in Lalitagiri is also shared. A museum has been made to preserve the ancient history and was inaugurated in December of 2018 by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.[27]
Menander was the most famousBactrian king. He ruled from Taxila and later fromSagala (Sialkot). He rebuilt Taxila (Sirkap) and Puṣkalavatī. He became Buddhist and is remembered in Buddhist records due to his discussions with a great Buddhist philosopher in the bookMilinda Pañha.
By 90 BC,Parthians took control of eastern Iran and around 50 BC put an end to the last remnants of Greek rule in Afghanistan. By around 7 AD, anIndo-Parthian dynasty succeeded in taking control ofGandhāra. Parthians continued to support Greek artistic traditions in Gandhara. The start of the GandhāranGreco-Buddhist art is dated to the period between 50 BC and 75 AD.[citation needed]
The Kusana orKushan Empire ruled large parts of north India from about 60 to 270 AD, as well as the strongly Buddhist region of Gandhara, including much of modern Afghanistan andPakistan. Kushan rulers were supporters of Buddhist institutions and built numerous stupas and monasteries. Some of their coins showed an image of Buddha. During this period,Gandharan Buddhism spread through the trade routes protected by the Kushans, out through theKhyber Pass into Central Asia. Gandharan Buddhist art styles also spread outward from Gandhara to other parts of Asia.
The monarchs of the next major dynasty, theGupta Empire, with its peak c. 319 to 467, were Hindus, and the decline of Buddhism, especially in the west of north India, probably began in this period.
The first half of the millennium saw the increasing isolation of the Buddhistsangha from the general public asmahaviharas looked to become more self-sufficient. A new development was also the use of Buddha images with the compounds of monasteries.[28] Politically much of North India was under theGupta Empire and the Southern regions were under theVakataka dynasty. Both of the kingdoms continued the patronisation ofBuddhism along with nascent Hinduism and Jainism, with the fifth-century Vakataka king,Harishena, being a patron of theAjanta caves.
Mahayana Buddhism began to gain prominence in India around the fifth century CE.[29] Mahayana innovated on early Buddhism by adding several incarnations to the life of the Buddha while also reveringBodhisattvas. This contrasted with the early Buddhists who mainly revered the Buddha himself. A range of bodhisattvas were worshipped during this period includingAvalokiteśvara,Tara andManjushri among others.Faxian who had travelled to India in the fifth century noted that Mahayana Buddhists lived in the same monasteries as early Buddhists and they were present to varying extents in most regions. An important early philosopher of the Mahayana school was the philosopherNagarjuna and although most details of his life are uncertain, most biographies agree that he lived in the first/second centuries inSouth India.[30]
There is an ongoing debate as to the exact geographic origins of Mahayana Buddhism ranging from the Gangetic plains or among small monastic communities on the fringes of the subcontinent in the South and the North East.[31] The number of monasteries that supported Mahayana Buddhism gradually started to increase. In the Gangetic plains,Nalanda mahavihara emerged and gradually became a centre of Mahayana Buddhism receiving patronisation not just from Indian rulers but also from foreign monarchs and monks.[32] Within Nalanda, numerous scholars of note have been associated with it includingShantideva,Aryadeva,Dharmakirti andChandrakirti.[33]
Another important centre during this period wasNagarjunakonda which emerged in the region of modern-dayAndhra Pradesh where numerous Buddhist monasteries have been discovered.[31]
The earliest Buddha images in India were sculpted inMathura and spread toSarnath,Sravasti andKausambi in the second and third centuries CE.[34] These images generally depicted scenes from the life of the Buddha and were more linked with the early schools of Buddhism than with Mahayana. Inscriptions on these images show that they were sculpted by a small group of monks who were all known to each other. It was only by the fifth century that Mahayana elements began to appear in Buddha images although it is speculated that there were earlier Mahayana images in the third-century CE. These Mahayana sculptures didn't just depict the Buddha but also Bodhisattvas and other deities.[35]
Various classes of Vajrayana literature developed as a result of royal courts sponsoring both Buddhism andShaivism.[36] TheMañjusrimulakalpa, which later came to classified underKriyatantra, states that mantras taught in the Shaiva, Garuda and Vaishnava tantras will be effective if applied by Buddhists since they were all taught originally byManjushri.[37] The Guhyasiddhi of Padmavajra, a work associated with theGuhyasamaja tradition, prescribes acting as a Shaiva guru and initiating members intoShaiva Siddhanta scriptures and mandalas.[38] TheSamvara tantra texts adopted thepitha list from the Shaiva textTantrasadbhava, introducing a copying error where a deity was mistaken for a place.[39]
Under the kings of thePala Empire (c. 730-1130), large mahavihars flourished in what is now Bihar and Bengal, with considerable royal patronage.Tantric Buddhism dominated in this region and period, and was spread to Tibet.[40][41] According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahavihars stood out:Vikramashila, the premier university of the era;Nalanda, past its prime but still illustrious,Somapura,Odantapurā, andJaggadala.[42] 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.[43]
During this period [Pala dynasty] Mahayana Buddhism reached its zenith of sophistication, while tantric Buddhism flourished throughout India and surrounding lands. This was also a key period for the consolidation of the epistemological-logical (pramana) school of Buddhist philosophy. Apart from the many foreign pilgrims who came to India at this time, especially from China and Tibet, there was a smaller but important flow of Indianpandits who made their way to Tibet...
— Damien Keown,[40]
The decline of Buddhism has been attributed to various factors. Regardless of the religious beliefs of their kings, states usually treated all the important sects relatively even-handedly.[44] This consisted of building monasteries and religious monuments, donating property such as the income of villages for the support of monks, and exempting donated property from taxation. Donations were most often made by private persons such as wealthy merchants and female relatives of the royal family, but there were periods when the state also gave its support and protection. In the case of Buddhism, this support was particularly important because of its high level of organization and the reliance of monks on donations from the laity. State patronage of Buddhism took the form of land grant foundations.[45]
Numerous copper plate inscriptions from India as well as Tibetan and Chinese texts suggest that the patronage of Buddhism and Buddhist monasteries in medieval India was interrupted in periods of war and political change, but broadly continued in Hindu kingdoms from the start of the common era through early 2nd millennium CE.[46][47][48] Modern scholarship and recent translations of Tibetan and Sanskrit Buddhist text archives, preserved in Tibetan monasteries, suggest that through much of the 1st millennium CE in medieval India (and Tibet as well as other parts of China), Buddhist monks owned property and were actively involved in trade and other economic activity, after joining a Buddhist monastery.[49][50]
With the Gupta dynasty (~4th to 6th century), the growth in ritualistic Mahayana Buddhism, mutual influence between Hinduism and Buddhism,[51] The differences between Buddhism and Hinduism blurred, and Vaishnavism, Shaivism and other Hindu traditions became increasingly popular, and Brahmins developed a new relationship with the state.[52] As the system grew, Buddhist monasteries gradually lost control of land revenue. In parallel, the Gupta kings built Buddhist temples such as the one at Kushinagara,[53][54] and monastic universities such as those at Nalanda, as evidenced by records left by three Chinese visitors to India.[55][56][57]
According to Hazra, Buddhism declined in part because of the rise of the Brahmins and their influence in socio-political process.[58] According to Randall Collins,Richard Gombrich and other scholars, Buddhism's rise or decline is not linked to Brahmins or the caste system, since Buddhism was "not a reaction to the caste system", but aimed at the salvation of those who joined its monastic order.[59][60][61]
The 11th-century Persian travellerAl-Biruni writes that there was 'cordial hatred' between the Brahmins and Sramana Buddhists.[62] Buddhism was also weakened by rival Hindu philosophies such asAdvaita Vedanta, growth in temples and an innovation of thebhakti movement. This rivalry undercut Buddhist patronage and popular support.[63] The period between 400 CE and 1000 CE thus saw gains by theVedanta school of Hinduism over Buddhism[64] and Buddhism had vanished from Afghanistan and north India by the early 11th century as a result of theMuslim conquests of Afghanistan and incursions into India.
According to some scholars such as Lars Fogelin, the decline of Buddhism may be related to economic reasons, wherein the Buddhist monasteries with large land grants focused on non-material pursuits, self-isolation of the monasteries, loss in internal discipline in thesangha, and a failure to efficiently operate the land they owned.[48][65]
Chinese scholars travelling through the region between the 5th and 8th centuries, such asFaxian,Xuanzang,I-ching, Hui-sheng, and Sung-Yun, began to speak of a decline of the BuddhistSangha, especially in the wake of theHun invasion from central Asia.[66] Xuanzang, the most famous of Chinese travellers, found "millions of monasteries" in north-western India reduced to ruins by the Huns.[66][67]
TheMuslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent was the first greaticonoclastic invasion into South Asia.[69] By the end of the twelfth century, Buddhism had mostly disappeared,[66][70] with the destruction of monasteries and stupas in medieval northwest and western India (now Pakistan and north India).[71]
In the north-western parts of medieval India, the Himalayan regions, as well as regions bordering central Asia, Buddhism had facilitated trade relations, states Lars Fogelin. With the Islamic invasion and expansion, and central Asians adopting Islam, the trade route-derived financial support sources and the economic foundations of Buddhist monasteries declined, on which the survival and growth of Buddhism was based.[65][72] The arrival of Islam removed the royal patronage to the monastic tradition of Buddhism, and the replacement of Buddhists in long-distance trade by the Muslims eroded the related sources of patronage.[71][72]
In the Gangetic plains, Odisha, northeast and the southern regions of India, Buddhism survived through the early centuries of the 2nd millennium.[65] The Islamic invasion plundered wealth and destroyed Buddhist images,[73] and consequent take over of land holdings of Buddhist monasteries removed one source of necessary support for the Buddhists, while the economic upheaval and new taxes on laity sapped the laity support of Buddhist monks.[65]
Monasteries and institutions such as Nalanda were abandoned by Buddhist monks or destroyed from the 8th through 15th centuries, who were forced to flee to escape the invading Muslim army, after which the site decayed over the Islamic rule in India that followed.[74][75]
The last empire to support Buddhism, the Pala dynasty, fell in the 12th century, andMuhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji, a general of the earlyDelhi Sultanate, destroyed monasteries and monuments and spread Islam in Bengal.[66] According to Randall Collins, Buddhism was already declining in India before the 12th century, but with the pillage by Muslim invaders it nearly became extinct in India in the 1200s.[76] In the 13th century, states Craig Lockard, Buddhist monks in India escaped to Tibet to escape Islamic persecution;[77] while the monks in western India, states Peter Harvey, escaped persecution by moving to south Indian Hindu kingdoms that were able to resist the Muslim power.[78]
Recent evidence has uncovered the existence of many late Indian Buddhist travellers and scholars who were active into the 15th and 16th centuries. The last abbot of theBodh Gaya mahavihara inBihar wasŚāriputra who was active into the 1400s when he left India to travel inTibet andChina.Dhyānabhadra was another figure who was previously a student atNalanda and left India in the early 1300s to travel to China andKorea. Other names of later Indian Buddhist figures includeVanaratna and Buddhaguptanatha.[79] Many Indian Buddhists fled south. It is known that Buddhists continued to exist in India even after the 14th century from texts such as theChaitanya Charitamrita. This text outlines an episode in the life ofChaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533), a Vaishnava saint, who was said to have entered into a debate with Buddhists inTamil Nadu.[80]
The TibetanTaranatha (1575–1634) wrote a history of Indian Buddhism, which mentions Buddhism as having survived in some pockets of India during his time.[81] He mentions the Buddhist sangha as having survived in Konkana, Kalinga, Mewad, Chittor, Abu, Saurastra, Vindhya mountains, Ratnagiri, Karnataka etc. The Jain author Gunakirti (1450-1470) wrote a Marathi text, Dhamramrita,[82] where he gives the names of 16 Buddhist orders.Vidyadhar Johrapurkar noted that among them, the names Sataghare, Dongare, Navaghare, Kavishvar, Vasanik and Ichchhabhojanik still survive in Maharashtra as family names.[83] The mahavihara at Ratnagiri, Odisha seems to have continued with a reduced community, and some renovation of buildings, until the 16th century, perhaps funded by foreign pilgrims as it is near the coast accessible from South-East Asia.
Buddhism also survived to the modern era in Himalayan regions such asLadakh, with close ties to Tibet.[84] A unique tradition survives in Nepal'sNewar Buddhism. The most importantBuddhist pilgrimage sites in India, in particular Bodh Gaya, continued to receive pilgrims from outside India throughout the medieval and modern periods, which are now greatly increased with easier air travel.
In Bihar and Bengal, many Buddhist shrines and temples have remained intact with the Buddha or Bodhisattva inside, being appropriated and worshipped as a Brahmanical deity. Around the neighbourhood of Nalanda, the remains of votive stupas are worshipped asShiva lingas. An image of the Buddha in bhūmisparśa mudrā at the village ofTelhara receives full-fledged pūjā asHanuman duringRama Navami. A sculpture of the Buddha has ended up asVāsudeva at Gunaighar inComilla.[85]
Abul Fazl, the courtier of the Mughal emperorAkbar, states, "For a long time past scarce any trace of them (the Buddhists) has existed in Hindustan." When he visitedKashmir in 1597, he met with a few old men professing Buddhism, however he 'saw none among the learned'. This is can also be seen from the fact that Buddhist priests were not present amidst learned divines that came to theIbadat Khana of Akbar atFatehpur Sikri.[86]
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![Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim was built under the direction of Changchub Dorje, 12th Karmapa Lama in the mid-1700s.[87]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aVikramjit-Kakati-Rumtek.jpg)
Some scholars suggest that a part of the decline of Buddhist monasteries was because it was detached from everyday life in India and did not participate in the ritual social aspects such as the rites of passage (marriage, funeral, birth of child) like other religions.[71]
The modern revival of Buddhism in India began in the late nineteenth century, led byBuddhist modernist institutions such as theMaha Bodhi Society (1891), theBengal Buddhist Association (1892) and the Young Men's Buddhist Association (1898). These institutions were influenced by modernist South Asian Buddhist currents such as Sri Lankan Buddhist modernism as well as Western Oriental scholarship and spiritual movements likeTheosophy.[88]
A central figure of this movement was Sri Lankan Buddhist leaderAnagarika Dharmapala, who founded the Maha Bodhi Society in 1891.[89] An important focus of the Maha Bodhi Society's activities in India became the recovery, conservation and restoration of important Buddhist sites, such as Bodh Gaya and its Mahabodhi temple.[88] Dharmapāla and the society promoted the building of Buddhist vihāras and temples in India, including the one at Sarnath, the place of Buddha's first sermon. Dharmapāla died in 1933, the same year he was ordained abhikkhu.[89] There's another independent organization by the same name of Maha Bodhi Society that was founded byAcharya Buddharakkhita in Bengaluru in 1956. It is affiliated with Anagarika Dharmapala's Maha Bodhi Society of Kolkata.
FollowingIndian independence, India's ancient Buddhist heritage became an important element for nation-building, and prime ministerJawaharlal Nehru looked to the Mauryan empire for symbols of pan-Indian unity which were neither Hindu nor Muslim, such as theDhammachakra.[90] Indian Buddhist sites also received Indian government support in preparation for the 2,500thBuddha Jayanti held in 1956, as well as providing rent-free land in several pilgrimage centres for Asian Buddhist groups to build temples and rest houses.[91]
Important Indian Buddhist intellectuals of the modern period includeRahul Sankrityayan (1893-1963),Dharmanand Kosambi (1876-1941) andBhadant Anand Kausalyayan.[92] The Bengal BuddhistKripasaran Mahasthavir (1865-1926) founded the Bengal Buddhist Association in 1892. In Tamil Nadu, the TamilIyothee Thass (1845-1914) was a major figure who promoted Buddhism and called theParaiyars to convert.[93]
TheIndian government and the states have continued to promote the development of Buddhist pilgrimage sites ("the Buddhist Circuit"), both as a source of tourism and as a promotion of India's Buddhist heritage which is an important cultural resource for India's foreign diplomatic ties.[94] In 2010, the Nalanda University was established in Bihar.[95]
In the 1950s, theDalit political leaderB. R. Ambedkar (1891-1956) influenced by his reading of Pali sources and Indian Buddhists likeDharmanand Kosambi and Lakshmi Narasu, began promoting conversion to Buddhism for Indian low caste Dalits.[91] HisDalit Buddhist Movement was most successful in the Indian states ofMaharashtra, which saw large scale conversions.[91] Ambedkar's "Neo Buddhism" included a strong element of social and political protest against Hinduism and theIndian caste system.[97] His magnum opus,The Buddha and His Dhamma, incorporatedMarxist ideas of class struggle into Buddhist views ofdukkha and argued that Buddhist morality could be used to "reconstruct society and to build up a modern, progressive society of justice, equality, and freedom".[97]
The conversion movement has generally been limited to certain social demographics, such as theMahar caste of Maharashtra and theJatavs.[97] Although they have renounced Hinduism in practice, a community survey showed adherence to many practices of the old faith including endogamy, worshipping the traditional family deity etc.[98]
Major organizations of this movement are theBuddhist Society of India (the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha) and theTriratna Buddhist Community (the Triratna Bauddha Mahasangha).[99]
Tibetan Buddhism has also grown in India during the modern era, mainly due to the growth of the Tibetan diaspora. The arrival of the14th Dalai Lama with over 85,000 Tibetan refugees in 1959 had a significant impact on the revival of Buddhism in India.[100] Large numbers of Tibetans settled inDharamsala,Himachal Pradesh, which became the headquarters of the Tibetan Government in Exile. Another large Tibetan refugee settlement is inBylakuppe,Karnataka. Tibetan refugees also contributed to the revitalization of the Buddhist traditions in Himalayan regions such asLahaul and Spiti district, Ladakh,Tawang andBomdila.[100] Tibetan Buddhists have also contributed to the building of temples and institutions in the Buddhist sites and ruins of India.[101]
The Dalai Lama's brother, Gyalo Thondup, himself lives inKalimpong and his wife established the Tibetan Refugee Centre inDarjeeling[102]. The17th Karmapa also arrived in India in 2000 and continues education and has taken traditional role to head Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism and every year leads the Kagyu Monlam in Bodh Gaya attended by thousands of monks and followers.Palpung Sherabling monastery seat of the12th Tai Situpa located in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh is the largestKagyu monastery in India and has become an important centre of Tibetan Buddhism.Penor Rinpoche, the head of Nyingma, the ancient school of Tibetan Buddhism re-established a Nyingma monastery in Bylakuppe, Mysore. This is the largest Nyingma monastery today. Monks from Himalayan regions of India, Nepal, Bhutan and from Tibet join this monastery for their higher education. Penor Rinpoche also founded Thubten Lekshey Ling, a dharma center for lay practitioners in Bangalore. Vajrayana Buddhism and Dzogchen (maha-sandhi) meditation again became accessible to aspirants in India after that.
TheVipassana movement is a modern tradition of Buddhist meditation practice. In India, the most influential Vipassana organization is the Vipassana Research Institute founded byS.N. Goenka (1924-2013) who promoted Buddhist Vipassana meditation in a modern and non-sectarian manner.[103] Goenka's network of meditation centers who offered 10 day retreats. Many institutions—both government and private sector—now offer courses for their employees.[104] This form is mainly practiced by elite and middle class Indians. This movement has spread to many other countries in Europe, America and Asia. In November 2008, the construction of theGlobal Vipassana Pagoda was completed on the outskirts of Mumbai.
Marathi Buddhists (includingMahar) constitute the most populous Buddhist community in India. Various indigenous ethnic Buddhist communities such as theSherpas,Bhutias,Lepchas,Tamangs,Yolmos, and ethnic Tibetans can be found in the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region.
Indian Buddhists celebrate many festivals.Ambedkar Jayanti,Dhammachakra Pravartan Day andBuddha's Birthday are three major festivals of Navayana Buddhism. Traditional Buddhists celebrateLosar, Buddha Purnima and other festivals.
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According to an IndiaSpend analysis of 2011 Census data, there are more than 8.4 million Buddhists in India of whom 87% are neo-Buddhists orNavayana Buddhists. They are converted from other religions, mostlyDalits (Scheduled Caste) who changed religion to escape theCaste system ofHinduism. The remaining 13% belong to traditional Buddhist communities (Theravada,Mahayana,Vajrayana and others) of the northeast and northern Himalayan regions.[113][114]
| Year | Percent | Increase |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 0.05% | - |
| 1961 | 0.74% | +0.69% |
| 1971 | 0.70% | -0.04% |
| 1981 | 0.71% | +0.01% |
| 1991 | 0.76% | +0.05% |
| 2001 | 0.77% | +0.01% |
| 2011 | 0.70% | -0.07% |
The Buddhist percentage has decreased from 0.74% in 1961 to 0.70% in 2011.[115] Between 2001 and 2011, the Buddhist population declined in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, andPunjab.[116]
According to the 2011 census there are 8.4 million Buddhists in India. Maharashtra has the highest number of Buddhists in India, with 5.81% of the total population.[117] Almost 90 per cent of Navayana or Neo-Buddhists live in this state. Marathi Buddhists, who live in Maharashtra, are the largest Buddhist community in India. Most Buddhist Marathi people belong to the former Mahar community.[118][119]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 180,823 | — |
| 1961 | 3,250,227 | +1697.5% |
| 1971 | 3,812,325 | +17.3% |
| 1981 | 4,720,000 | +23.8% |
| 1991 | 6,388,000 | +35.3% |
| 2001 | 7,955,207 | +24.5% |
| 2011 | 8,442,972 | +6.1% |
| Source: Census of India | ||
In the 1951 census of India, 180,823 (0.05%) respondents said they were Buddhist.[120] The 1961 census, taken afterB. R. Ambedkar adopted Navayana Buddhism with his millions of followers in 1956, showed an increase to 3.25 million (0.74%). Buddhism is growing rapidly in the Scheduled Caste (dalit) community. According to the 2011 census, Scheduled Castes Buddhists grew by 38 percent in the country. According to the 2011 census, 5.76 million (69%) Indian Buddhists belong to the Scheduled Caste.[121]
The majority (92%) of the people in theChakma Autonomous region in Mizoram follows Theravada Buddhism.[122]
| State and union territory | Buddhist Population (approximate) | Buddhist Population (%) | % of total Buddhists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maharashtra | 6,531,200 | 5.81% | 77.36% |
| West Bengal | 282,898 | 0.31% | 3.35% |
| Madhya Pradesh | 216,052 | 0.30% | 2.56% |
| Uttar Pradesh | 206,285 | 0.10% | 2.44% |
| Sikkim | 167,216 | 27.39% | 1.98% |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 162,815 | 11.77% | 1.93% |
| Tripura | 125,385 | 3.41% | 1.49% |
| Jammu and Kashmir(before 2019 formation of Ladakh) | 112,584 | 0.90% | 1.33% |
| Ladakh(formed 2019) | 108,761 | 39.65% | 1.29% |
In the Edicts of Ashoka, Ashoka mentions the Hellenistic kings of the period as a recipient of his Buddhist proselytism.[124] TheMahavamsa describes emissaries of Ashoka, such asDharmaraksita, as leading Greek ("Yona") Buddhist monks, active in Buddhist proselytism.[125]
Roman Historical accounts describe an embassy sent by the "Indian king Pandion (Pandey?), also named Porus," toCaesar Augustus around the 1st century. The embassy was travelling with a diplomatic letter inGreek, and one of its members was a sramana who burned himself alive inAthens, to demonstrate his faith. The event made a sensation and was described byNicolaus of Damascus, who met the embassy atAntioch and related byStrabo (XV,1,73)[126] andDio Cassius (liv, 9). A tomb was made to the sramana, still visible in the time ofPlutarch, which bore the mention:
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