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Srimulavasa Vihara, also known as Tirumulavata,[1] was a Buddhist temple and centre of pilgrimage in present-day Kerala on the Malabar Coast of India.[2][3] Scholars believe it was situated somewhere between Ambalappuzha and Thrikkunnappuzha, along the sea-coast in the Alappuzha region of central Kerala.[3][1] The Srimulavasa Vihara was located in the medieval Chera kingdom of Kerala.[4]
According to the Paliyam copper plates, dated to 898 AD[5][1] and issued by the Ay ruler of southern Kerala, Vikramaditya Varaguna, a vast tract of land was donated to the Srimulavasa Vihara.[1][6] The record notably opens with three Sanskrit slokas in praise of Soudhodani (Buddha), Dharmasangha (Dharma) and Avalokitesvara.[1]
The shrine is also mentioned in the Mushika Vamsa Kavya of Athula (c. 11th century AD), a medieval dynastic chronicle from northern Kerala associated with the rulers of Ezhimala.[7][1] The kavya states that the Ezhimala prince Vikrama Rama protected the shrine from encroachment by the sea by throwing large blocks of stone (Sarga XII).[1] Another Ezhimala prince, Valabha, visited the shrine on his return to the Ezhimala country from a military campaign in support of the Chera ruler against an invading Chola force (Sarga XIV).[1][7]
The discovery of a Buddha image in Gandhara by M. Foucher, bearing the Sanskrit legend "Dakshinapathe Mulavasa Lokanathah", suggests that Srimulavasa was a famous Buddhist centre in southern India.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Narayanan, M. G. S. (1972). "Vikramaditya Varaguna and Srimulavasa Vihara". Cultural Symbiosis in Kerala. Trivandrum: Kerala Historical Society. pp. 9-16 and 44-45.
- ↑ Veluthat, Kesavan (2009). The Early Medieval in South India. Oxford India Paperbacks. Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 180. ISBN 9780198069140.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Menon, A. Sreedhara (2008) [1982]. The Legacy of Kerala. DC Books. p. 15. ISBN 978-81-264-3798-6.
- ↑ Narayanan, M. G. S. (2013) [1972]. Perumals of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks. p. 97. ISBN 9788188765072.
- ↑ Gurukkal, Rajan (1984). Champakalakshmi, R. (ed.). The Agrarian System and Socio-Political Organisation Under the Early Pandyas c. CE 600-1000. Jawaharlal Nehru University. pp. 29–30. hdl:10603/14532.
- ↑ Rao, T. A. Gopinatha (1912). Two Inscriptions of Vikramaditya Varaguna. Travancore Archaeological Series. Vol. XII (1912 ed.). Madras: Government of Travancore. pp. 192–93.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Rao, T. A. Gopinatha (1913). "No. 10—Mushika Vamsa: A Study". Travancore Archaeological Series. Vol. II. Madras: Methodist Publishing House. pp. 106–113.
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