While the temple-mosque controversy rages at Ayodhya. Dr.K Jamanadas of Chandrapur in Maharashtra sets out to prove that just about every one of the famous Hindu places of pilgrimage was originally Buddhist. Brahmins who led the renaissance of Hinduism against Buddhist predominance were far more subtle and thorough in their methods

First they declared Gautama Buddha to be a reincarnation of Vishnu; then they set about changing Buddhist idols (according to Dr Jamanadas early Hindus knew nothing about idols) by attaching Hindu names. As if this was not enough they took what was too deeply ingrained in the minds of Buddhist masses and gave it a Hindu veneer. And just to make sure that nothing of Buddhism survived they declared Rajputs to be Kshtriyas and charged them with the duty of annihilating Buddhists. Dr.Jamanadas has assembled his material from writings of renowned historians and put them together in his Tirupati Balaji Was a Buddhist Shrine (Sanjevan Publications)

Jamanadas is a follower of Ambedkar and Periyar. He combines surgery (he is an FRCS from Edinburgh) with research in ancient Indian history culture and archaeology. According to him there was a time when almost the whole of India was Buddhist except a few scattered sanctuaries where Hinduism continued a precarious existence. Brahmins played a leading role in its revival. According to Dr.Ambedkar they declared all Buddhists untouchables. They adopted the basic tenets of Buddhism such as ahimsa (non-violence) Karuna (compassion) maitri (goodwill) the need of a guru as a guide and made them an integral part of Vaishnavite Hinduism. Dr Jamanadas quotes Professor L.M Joshi in support of his view those monasteries monastic vows of celibacy the ochre robe use of icons and idols as objects of worship pilgrimages renunciation and sanyas are entirely Buddhist in origin. Since Buddhists condemned sacrifices of animals to gods Brahmins who were great cow-eaters renounced beef-eating to ingratiate themselves with the Buddhist masses who abominated beef-eaters.

Dr Jamanadas maintains that the institution of Devadasis is also Buddhist. Their genesis is in the Buddhist tradition of making the first born daughter a bhikshuni He ascribed their beginning to about 1000 AD and maintains that todays’ Devadas is are from Harijan communities because their ancestors were Buddhists To clinch his argument he cites the custom of dedicating hair on the head of pilgrims at Tirupati. A shaven head was regarded by Hindus as inauspicious. It was a Buddhist practice when monks and nuns taking vows removed their hair. It was adapted by Hindus leaving a tuft (shikha) to give it a Hindu touch (Muslim India)

Article extracted from this publication >> September 13, 1991