This day about 2600 years ago marked the beginning of a new world
religion - Buddhism. Gautham Siddhartha (BC 623 - 544), the crown
prince of the kingdom of Kapilavasthu, had renounced his kingdom and
was in meditation searching for the cause of sorrow in the world.
On the pournami (full moon) day of the month of Vaisakhi (April/May)
he was enlightened, and he became the Buddha - the enlightened one.
The Bodhi tree, under which the great saint realised that 'desire
was the cause of sorrow', in Bodhgaya district of Bihar then became
a famous pilgrim centre.
Buddhism was brought to Kerala in the third century BC and left its
mark on the state. The Vadakkumnatha temple, Thrissur and the Siva
temple at Madavoorppara near Thiruvananthapuram bear evidence of having
been Buddhist shrine. The temple architecture, the Sastha cult, serpent
worship, festival processions and even the Malayalam language show
the influence of Buddhism. The greatest relic of Buddhism in Kerala,
however is the 11th century Buddha statue - Karumadikuttan - at Ambalappuzha
in the Alappuzha district of south Kerala.
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