The landmark judgment that shocked the world; The Hindu deity becomes ‘Buddha’
‘When looking at this historical statue, it appears that this is a statue of Buddha. This is not an image of another god. Archaeologists have said that the ‘great features’ of the Buddha are shown in this statue. The Archaeological Department of India has stated in its report that according to the available archaeological and historical evidence, the statue is definitely an ancient statue of Buddha. Carved out of hard rock, the statue is shown seated in the ‘Ardha Padmasana’ posture on a pedestal of lotus flowers.
Its hands clearly show the ‘Dhyana Mudra’. The curly hair on the Buddha’s head is also clearly visible. Also, elongated ear lobes are also located in that way. The ‘urna’ on the forehead is not very visible. Anyway, most of the great characteristics of Buddha have been shown by this statue. Therefore, the archeological report has stated that this is not the image of Lord Thalaivetti Muniappan….’
InTamil Nadu in India few weeks ago, this interesting story was heard in connection with a certain ancient Hindu temple located in a rural area near city called ‘Salem’ in the state of Tamil Nadu. Who makes the above statement? These judgement announced by the Chief High Court Judge Anand Venkatesh presiding the ‘Madras High Court’ of India. He had announced the final verdict of a case that was heard in a courtroom. The judge further stated this controversial judgment in this manner. That is a lengthy judgment
‘We can no longer accept this statue in this temple as the image of Lord Thalaivetti Muniappan. Such treatment is against Buddhism. Also, it is against the principles of Buddhism to continue to hold Hindu religious prayers here. According to the ancient archeological evidence, after concluding that this statue is of Buddha, it cannot be allowed to maintain a false identity any longer.
Henceforth, Hindu religious prayers and rituals cannot be allowed in this sacred place. But people of any nationality and religion are allowed to come there. I also order that this place be named as a Buddhist religious place. High Court Judge Anand Venkatesh said that the main statue here is of Buddha, and the Department of Archeology has been ordered to explain that information by means of a written board.
This is now recognized as one of the most historic judgments in the history of Indian judiciary. Also, the controversial court order has not been challenged by any party so far. This is because it is entirely a judgment given by the Madras High Court. The High Court Judge Anand Venkatesh, who gave this decision, is considered a fair and impartial judge who has given a number of famous and controversial judgments in India.
He is currently 53 years old and has been serving as a judge of the Madras High Court since February 13, 2020. Prior to that, he had worked as an Additional High Court Judge in the same court for many years. After that, on the approval of the President of India and the Chief Justice, he was appointed as Chief High Court Judge. It is said that he will never give judgments by being unreasonably loyal to any party.
There is a wonderful saying in our ancient folk saying that ‘it is as if the temple you went to worship fell on your head’. It actually means going to do some good work and getting into trouble. That is, it can also be similar to some kind of misfortune, death or fire or falling down. But the devotees who have visited this temple in India will not feel as the temple has fallen on their head.
They have been going there for decades to perform Hindu religious offerings. But now it has been revealed that they had performed sacrifices for Buddha. Buddha is a great teacher than other Hindu gods and goddesses. Hence the devotees will never regret the sacrifices they have made. Most intelligent devotees will understand the situation except for a few devotees who have some narrow extremist views.
Therefore, they will not feel as if the temple they went to worship has collapsed on their head. Despite the situation, the main deities of Hindus are considered to be gods like Vishnu and Shiva, while the main deities of Tamils are considered to be Murugan, Ayyappan or Perumal. Apart from these few main deities, Indian devotees offer sacrifices to hundreds of other deities. It is like traditional Indian religious rituals.
So I wrote some articles about Indian devotees to explain some information about their religious pattern. Who are the devotees who have visited the above Kalaivetty Muniappan temple for decades? It is stated that majority of them are Tamil devotees.
The main reason for this is that this temple is located in Tamil Nadu. The above temple is located in Perieri village near Salim town. Here the Tamil devotees are introduced as ‘Theliavetti Muniappan’, a village guardian deity. The original word ‘Talaivetti’ means a person whose head is separated from his body. Muniappan means Village God.
The above meaning has been obscured due to the fact that the statue inside this temple has only the Siraskada (upper part of the body). The lower part of the statue was earlier seen sitting on a lotus pedestal in the Ardha Padmasana posture, but that part has been damaged. So now the statue has only the upper part. Under such an environment, the temple and its guardian deity are given the above names. Old buildings as well as some new buildings can be found in the area belonging to this temple.
But according to archaeological information, the main statue kept in the main Yatika house of the temple is the above mentioned statue. This is not a big temple when compared to other temples. Now it will be clear to you what is the background story of this wonderful temple.
So how did the story of this temple reach up to the High Court? This story has been in circulation for more than 10 years. In 2011, Tamil national P. Ranganathan who was an activist in Salim city filed this case. This case was filed in the Madras High Court under the number 4715, and the case was not adjudicated properly for some time. Mr. Ranganathan had argued that Thalaivetti Muniappan temple is not a Hindu shrine but a Buddhist shrine.
Therefore, it was requested to conduct a proper investigation and declare this place as a Buddhist place and to hand over the place to the Buddhist trust in Salim. However, in 2017, the court had ordered an archaeological investigation to be conducted on this place. Accordingly, the Department of Archeology of India conducted an archaeological survey on this.
There, this expedition was conducted under the guidance of several talented Indian archaeologists. There they concluded with many facts that the main statue in this temple is of ‘Buddha’. As mentioned above in this article, the characteristics of the historical image of the Buddha were revealed. Accordingly, the Department of Archeology prepared its report and firmly stated that this statue is of Buddha and that the place is a Buddhist shrine.
Even though an archeological investigation report was prepared, this case was not decided after 2017 until 2022. Although the case was heard, the judges did not proceed to give a proper verdict. Sometimes it may be due to the strong extremist religious pattern dominant in India. But somehow, the situation turned upside down after this case was decided recently.
High Court Judge Anand Venkatesh, faced a great challenge. In the face of real facts and truth, he bowed his head to archeology and gave the historic verdict. This is considered to be the first time in the history of India that such a judgment has been given. Although the courts have given judgments in relation to some religious places only in a few rare cases, this is the first time that a place that has been worshiped as a Hindu temple for decades has been given a legal and official decision as a Buddhist shrine again.
Anyway, this latest transformation took place in the judiciary after High Court Judge Anand Venkatesh started his duties in the Madras High Court on February 13, 2020. However, in his short tenure of two years alone, he has given controversial judgments on various subjects. Due to this, he has now become a very popular figure not only in Tamil Nadu but also in the whole of India. Also, various media have reported that he has been given a very high respect in the society.
A unique turning point in this wonderful story is developed from here. That is, when the Madras High Court gave this historical judgment recently, the case was filed by P. Ranganathan, the social activist, was not alive. He died about two years ago. However, the decision given by the High Court Judge Anand Venkatesh is a very long one and it consists of 11 pages.
There is not enough space in this article to write down all the facts pertaining to the judgement. The Principal Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious Affairs Department, the Commissioner of the Department, the Director General of the Department of Archaeology, the Chief Commissioner of the Department and the CEO of Thalaivetti Muniappan. The temple also named as respondents in this case.
The only petitioner is the Buddhist trust of Salim town in Tamil Nadu, and since the main petitioner is not alive, person named R.A Selvakumar appeared on deceased behalf. A look at the petitioners and respondents shows that the caseload is a very heavy one. Anyway, according to the court order issued by the High Court in 2017, the archaeological survey was conducted and the report was sent to the court. This archaic final report is also a very detailed rationale, many of which are included in the High Court judge’s 11-page judgment. What are the important points of this historic judgment?
The petitioners have stated through this Writ Petition that since many decades there was a Buddhist temple at this place, but later this place was converted into a temple by some religious group. Thus, the main statue (believed to be of Buddha) was transformed into a Hindu deity in a very subtle and timely manner, the petition stated.
After that, it is mentioned that for many more decades, this was used as a Tamil Hindu temple. Anyway, according to the investigations conducted by Indian archaeologists in the last year 2021, this situation has become very clear. It has been found that the statue is made entirely of stones and is an ancient artifact of hundreds of years. They have stated the following about the size of the statue.
Full Height – CM 108 ( 43 inches)
Length between the shoulders – CM 58 (23 inches)
Ushnisha ( the circular, elavated hair placement on the head – CM 07 ( inches 03)
This stone statue has been subjected to different pictorial transformations in later times. It has been seen that many parts of the entire statue have been coated with thick layers of white sandalwood, red sandalwood, saffron, turmeric, ash and oils. Due to this, the true form of the image is distorted. So these layers of coating had to be removed to discover the true form of the statue.
It was done with the participation of the priest-in-charge of the shrine and his assistants. It was amazingly seen that this statue is one of Buddha. Thus the archaeologists came to a proper conclusion. Courts were also able to reach a verdict based on archaeological evidence. Accordingly, the High Court judge was also able to give the final verdict and order.
The copy of this final judgment of the High Court was not published in the general media. But for our ‘Mawrata’ readers we got it through a website of Madras High Court of India. It is an order from High Court Judge Anand Venkatesh. However, today this historic judgment has become a big controversy all over the world. The unique transformation that takes place in this way is that a Hindu temple becomes a Buddhist temple overnight. This is not something that anyone can stop or resist.
A High Court judgment is an order with much higher authority than that of an ordinary court. Therefore, no objection of any kind has been expressed by any party in relation to this incident. The wonderful information here is that the chief priest and the staff who worked in this temple should also work according to the order of the High Court. By now, however, the place has begun to transform.
Now there is a unique question that arises under such an environment. That is, P. Ranganathan who filed this case first is a Tamil. He is a Tamil Buddhist. Are there Tamil Buddhists in India or Sri Lanka? There is not much evidence of Tamil Buddhists in Sri Lanka. But the surprising thing is that a large number of Tamil Buddhists live in India. India is a country 60 times the size of Sri Lanka. There are hundreds of races and religions there. Hence, India is a wonderful land in terms of religious harmony.
Although various national or religious conflicts can be seen in India at various times, it also often shows inter-religious harmony. Despite the situation, the above Tamil Buddhists brought this case through the Tamil Nadu Buddhist Trust and today it has gained victory. Even though the main petitioner is not alive today, this judgment is fully enforceable.
However, the majority of Hindu temples in India are located in Tamil Nadu. According to the data, the number is more than 40,000. Many of these temples and shrines have a history of about 800 years. Meanwhile, there are a significant number of Buddhist shrines in India as well. The number exceeds hundreds and these Buddhist shrines are located in 16 states of India. According to historical and archaeological evidence, all these places are ancient Buddhist temples. Mahabharata or India is truly the land of Buddha.
Priyantha Hettyge