The goal of this paper is to examine some of the broad parameters that
governed early Buddhist pilgrimage. I intend to discuss two categories:
local and distant pilgrimage. Long distance pilgrimages were typically
undertaken by monks, to visit the sacred geography associated with
Shakyamuni's life; and these are well documented in inscriptions, early
religious texts and the ancient accounts of pilgrims. Parallel to this
system is the larger local pilgrimage tradition of the lay population
that has left only a few traces. This paper will draw on evidence from
both traditions in an attempt to better understand the importance and
significance of centers associated with the life of Shakyamuni such as
Bodhgaya in contrast to sites that drew pilgrims because of their
powerful relics like Hadda or Sanchi. Ultimately, it will also offer
some insight into the monastic - lay distinction in terms of pilgrimage
activity.
We know that sites associated with the life of Shakyamuni, such as
Bodhgaya or Sarnath were the main focus for foreign monastic pilgrims
coming from places like China, Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand. Thus we
can understand these sites to some extent in terms of foreign concerns
and "multi-national" patronage. However, the well documented monastic
long distance pilgrimage tradition also provides valuable insight into
the world of local practices. Centers like Bodhgaya or Sanchi would
have had their financial base in the localized lay pilgrimage
traditions. Thus, it is important to consider the key sites associated
with the sacred geography of the Buddha's life both as part of an
international pilgrimage itinerary and as in terms of their being hubs
of regional lay traditions linked to the Gangetic urban centers. For
the lay population their pilgrimage itineraries would have also included
centers boasting important relics and we know a little about this from
the Chinese accounts. In fact, the great majority of lay pilgrims would
not have traveled great distances to visit the sacred geography of
Shakyamuni and evidence of local pilgrimage is known from texts and
archaeology. A constellation of early "local" pilgrimage sites in
Gandhara are well documented in the writings of Fa Hsien, Sun Yun and
Hiuen tsiang. Central to this nexus of "local" pilgrimage were powerful
relics and mythic sacred geography associated with the Jatakas and
miraculous events of the Buddha. These descriptions provide us with a
model of how and why certain centers became important hubs of lay
devotional activity. At Sanchi one can argue on inscriptional evidence
that this site would have been viewed as the center of a circa 2nd BC -
2nd AD, network of sites - the Bhilsa topes. In West India, the 5th-7th
century AD practice of donating votive sculptural panels, at sites like
Kanheri, Nasik, Ajanta, Aurangabad and others, records yet another
instance of lay regional pilgrimage.
In conclusion I hope to be able to clarify some aspects of early
Buddhist pilgrimage in a way that I believe helps us to understand some
aspects of the ideological significance of this practice. Finally, this
conference appears to be an ideal forum for understanding how the Hindu
pilgrimage tradition, with the idea of sacred geography at its core, is
related to the more relic centered Buddhist tradition.
