How were the eight Buddhist holy places made?
I continued to write Buddhist pilgrimage articles until June this year, Now I started to write pilgrimage again. Sometimes I wonder who made the eight major sites. It is because the reason for designating the 8th sanctuary is not understood correctly and other sanctuaries are thought to have more significance. So, I want to start with the question, 'How did the 8th Shrine have been made?' The legitimacy and the virtue of pilgrimage to the four major shrines are already mentioned in the Sutta of the Great Nirvana, but the basis and source of the designation of the eight Shrines are unknown. I have asked many people to write this article, but nobody explained it coolly. Lightly, "Is not the travel agency decided to make money?" From the answer, there was a conjecture that "Is not the Buddha or King Asoka made it?“
Then I found the sutta of 佛說八大 靈塔 名號 经 and at least in the 4th century, I could see that the eight sacred sites were already designated. In other words, it can be said that the 8th sanctuary started with the erection of a tower in 8 places and worshiping the tower. Here are the reasons why it have designated the eight major sites in the scriptures.
"The first 'Lumbini' is the birthplace of the Buddha. The second ‘Bodhgaya’ at the foot of the Nerangara river is where the Buddha awakened the truth. The third 'Sarnat' is the place where the Buddha first spoke to the five monks. The fourth 'Savathi' is a place of great power that penetrates the three worlds. The fifth 'Sankhsa' is where the Buddha descended from the Heaven. The sixth 'Rajagaha is a place that made many disciples realize. The seventh is ‘Vesali’ where Buddha thought about his life. The eighth is 'Kusinagara', a place where Buddha is in nirvana.
The eight sacred places in this scene are precisely the eight sacred places that we know. It would have been popular to pilgrimage around the eight tower before the 4th century. This fact also appears in the statue of the Nalanda Museum in the fourth century. In the middle of this statue is a Buddha pointing to the ground with his right hand. Three figures are carved on each side of the Buddha. Each figure symbolizes the place where the event took place in Buddha's life. The appearance of monkeys giving honey to the Buddha symbolizes Vesali, and the appearance of controlling a wild elephant by his hand is Rajagaha. A miracle showing a thousand Buddha in the air represents Savathi, and a figure descending a jewel staircase represents Sakhasa. And the fragments of the Buddha lying on the head of the central Buddha represent Kusinagara.
The place of the eight sacred places described in the <佛說八大 靈塔 名號 经> is the same, but the reasons for designating the sanctuary are different in the sculptures. This seems to reflect the position of sculptors when carving. From the sculptor's point of view, it would have been very difficult to show Rajagaha as a sculpture that made many disciples aware of it. So the sculptor expressed the moment of subjugation of the ferocious elephant in sculpture and tried to expose the place as Rajagaha. Vesali is the same. It is difficult to express the Buddha's determination to be nirvana after three months, but if the monkey showed him to give honey to the Buddha, he could easily reveal that it was Vesali. So, in the statue, all eight sacred places were filled with miracle related events. This tradition would have been maintained for a long time in terms of the sculptor's position and the people's favorite.
This piece shows eight important events in the life of the Buddha.
Two hundred years after the Buddha's death, King Aosoka worshiped all the Buddha-related sites and set up 84,000 towers. Is it right to choose only 8 of the many towers and pilgrimage to the Holy Land? Is it reasonable for Sankasha to enter the Eighth Holy Land because the Buddha descended from Thusita? Rather, I think Kosambi, a place where Buddhists and disciples often stay and Buddha spent two summers in the forest. There was a dispute over the Sangha in Kosambi, and the Buddha even left the forest. Then the believers refused to give food to the monks and harmonized the Sangha. The lessons of Kosambi believers are important when the unity of the monks' communities is breaking down due to differences in the wealth of the monk members.
The reason that Sankhasa was allowed to enter the 8th Holy Land is the natural result of Savathi because they explained the miracle of Buddha's ascension to the heavenly place.
They had to tell a story coming down from heaven because they told the story of going up to heaven.If we focus on the words spoken in Savathi, Sankhasa will not be emphasized as it is now.
However, it may be the limit to think about sticking to 8 sacred places in the frame of 8 pieces. I think it would be a good idea to create 10 sanctuaries and add Kosambi as well as other sanctuaries. The Buddha also spoke about the various scriptures in Nigrodararma and Mahavana of Kapilavathu, the hometown of the Buddha. Gaggara Lake in Campa, the capital of Angha, Vikramshila University near Campa, Pilgrimage Route of Bimbisara and Buddha from Jethiyan to Rajagaha, Silao where Buddha and Kasappa exchanging Robe, Lauriya Nandagarh with Ashoka Piller Etc. may be added to the pilgrimage sites. The present eight sacred sites are alienating other important shrines not designated in the Holy Land.
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