BY S VENKAT NARAYAN 
Our Special Correspondent

 NEW DELHI, August 6: What was believed to be and worshipped as a Hindu village deity for ages in Tamil Nadu is in fact the Buddha, an archaeological probe ordered by the Madras High Court has revealed.Now, the ‘temple’ in Salem district shall be converted into a Buddhist site and the village deity Thalavetti Muniappan will be worshipped as the Buddha from now on. No pooja or other Hindu rituals will be permitted there anymore.

Madras High Court Justice N Anand Venkatesh said: “The Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department shall erect a board inside the property by depicting the sculpture inside the property as the Buddha. The general public can be permitted to visit this place, and it shall be ensured that no poojas or other ceremonies are allowed to be performed for the sculpture of the Buddha.”

In 2011, P Ranganathan moved the High Court saying the Thalavetti Muniyappan Temple on Kottai Mariamman Temple Campus, Kottai Road Periyeri village in Salem district is a Buddhist site.

He said that it should be handed over to the Salem-based Buddha Trust. On November 20, 2017, the court directed the state archaeological department to inspect the temple and file a report.Though the petitioner had died, the case was pending before the court when the report was filed, validating the claim that it was indeed a Buddha idol, and that people had been worshipping it as a Hindu village deity due to mistaken identity.

After perusing the report, Justice Anand Venkatesh said: “It is clear from the report that the sculpture clearly depicts the Buddha. In view of the categorical report, the assumption of the HR & CE Department that it is a temple is no longer sustainable and control must go into the hands of some other authority.”

The court then directed the government counsel to ascertain the appropriate authority to take over.The government counsel argued that the place had been treated as a temple of Thalaivetti Muniappan for a considerable period, and that the court could permit the HR & CE department to retain control of the place by treating it as a Hindu temple. The judge rejected the plea.

The judge said: “After having received such a report, it will not be appropriate to permit the HR & CE department to continue to treat this sculpture as Thalaivetti Muniappan. The mistaken identity cannot be allowed to continue after coming to a conclusion that the sculpture is that of the Buddha. In view of the same, the original status must be restored and permitting the HR & CE Department to continue to treat the sculpture as Thalaivetti Muniappan, will not be appropriate, and it will go against the very tenets of Buddhism.”

The court then directed the Principal Secretary and the Commissioner of the Tamil Nadu archaeological department to take control of the place.Buddhism was popular in the region in modern-day Tamil Nadu around the third century BCE during the rule of Emperor Ashoka. It flourished under various ruling regimes until the advent of Bhakti movement during the sixth-ninth centuries when the royal patronage decreased.

During the rule of Chola Emperor Raja Raja Chola, there were endowments to Buddhist shrines in Nagapattinam during the 11th century. The bronze Buddhist images found around Nagapattinam region dating back to the 13th century and the religious texts by eminent Buddhists during the time indicate the presence of the religion during the period.

Historians also attribute that Buddhism was not only restricted to big cities like Kanchipuram and Madurai, but also smaller ones like Perambalur where the images are present. The set of images in the village are approximately dated to the 11th century. Thyaganur is counted among Madurai, Kanchipuram, Nagapattinam, Uraiyur, Kaveripattinam and Perambalur among famous Buddhist centres in Tamil Nadu. Another view is that Buddhism was prevalent in Chola period as found in the inscriptions and images found in various places in the modern-day Trichy, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Karur, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Pudukottai districts.