Lord Buddha, founder of one of the most respected religions in the world (Buddhism), is a respected name in the whole world. Many people from other religion both in the East and the West admire him. Since Nepal was the birth place of Lord Buddha, many tourists from around the world come to Nepal to pay tribute to this great philosopher. Lord Buddha was born as Prince Siddhartha in the Tharu community. Well, there is debate about this matter. For example in Wikipedia I found:
"According to Doctor Fuhrer and his followers , who discovered the Lumbini in 1896, Tharus are believed to be the descandants of the Ancient Sakya and Koliya Tribes to whom the Lord Buddha belong, but this was dismissed by other anthropologists as a myth."
On the other hand, Subodh Kumar Singh has written a book titled "The Great Sons of the Tharus: Sakyamuni Buddha and Emperor Asoka". I am quoting from a report of DNA India:
"Singh, himself a Tharu, says the Buddha as well as one of his greatest followers and rulers of ancient India, Emperor Asoka, came from the Tharu community.
"The word Tharu comes from Sthabir in Sanskrit, meaning monk or the Buddha," Singh says. "The Tharus are therefore the Buddha's people."
The book quotes Indian scholar Gauri Shankar Dubedi, who says after the Buddha attained enlightenment, he returned to his homeland when people flocked to him to become monks. But to ensure that society would not collapse, some were told to stay back and became known as Tharus.
A succession of invasions by the Rajput kings, who were Hindus, eroded the influence of the Tharus, Singh says."
So, it is up to you to believe whether Buddha hailed from the Tharo community of not. Anyway, I feel that there is some kind of relationship (direct or indirect) between Gautoma Buddha and the Tharu community. Even if he did not belong to this community, they were surely either his neighbors. So, it gives me a lot of pain to see that now they are suffering as bonded laborers.
Although Buddha was born in Nepal, Nepal is now a country with Hindu majority. In fact, until a few weeks ago, Nepal was officially a Hindu country. So, naturally, Buddhism is neglected here in the state level. So, naturally, being associated with Buddha has little value in Nepalese society. Many Buddhists from around the world visit Nepal every year with the hope of earning some virtue. Well, I feel the best virtue that you can earn is by helping the Tharu community. Buddha always helped people to be free of suffering.
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» More Tourists in Lumbini: Birth Place of Lord Buddha from SouthAsiaBiz
Nepal may be a Hindu country but it is also the birth place of Lord Buddha, founder of Buddhism. So, thousands of people each year visit Lumbini, the birth place of Buddha. For Buddhists, it is a place of... [Read More]
Tracked on: December 8, 2007 4:28 AM | Permalink to Trackback