The Holy Land Reborn: Pilgrimage and the Tibetan Reinvention of Buddhist India (Buddhism and Modernity series)

657 Pages·2008·5.09 MB·English

by  Toni Huber

c1o. ver
C2.o ntents
L3.i st of Figures
A4.c knowledgments
N5.o te on Transliteration
I6n.t roduction
P7a. rt One: Locating and Dislocating the Land of the
Buddha
C1. h a p t e r 1 The Shifting Terrain of the
Buddha
C2. h a p t e r 2 Buddhist Knowledge and
Anachronism in Tibet
C3. h a p t e r 3 Journeying to the Centre of the
World
C4. h a p t e r 4 Tantric Buddhist India and Its
Tibetan Appropriation
P8a. rt Two: Reinventing the Holy Land in India
C1. h a p t e r 5 Nirvana in Assam
C2. h a p t e r 6 Return to the Centre of the
World
C3. h a p t e r 7 The Allure of the Atsaras
C4. h a p t e r 8 The Precious Guru in the Punjab
P9a. rt Three: Modern Rebirths of the Holy Land
C1. h a p t e r 9 Archaeological and Discursive
Rebirths of Buddhist India
C2.h a p t e r 10 Encountering the Modern Holy
Land
C3. h a p t e r 11 Exile in the Land of the
Buddha
1N0.o tes
C1.h apter One
C2.h apter Two
C3.h apter Three
C4.h apter Four
C5.h apter Five
C6.h apter Six
C7.h apter Seven
C8.h apter Eight
C9.h apter Nine
1C0.h apter Ten
1C1.h apter Eleven
1B1.i bliography
T1i.b etan Sources
S2o. urces in Other Languages
1I2n.d ex
1B3.a ck
the holy land reborn buddhism and modernity A series edited by Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism, edited by Donald S. Lopez Jr. (2005) The
Madman’s Middle Way: Reflections on Reality of the Tibetan Monk Gendun Chopel,
G

by Donald S. Lopez Jr. (2006)
the holy land reborn
Pilgrimage & the Tibetan Reinvention of Buddhist India
toni huber

the university of chicago press chicago and london Toni Huber is professor of Tibetan studies at the
Institute for Asian and African Studies at Humboldt University, Berlin.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2008 by

The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2008 Printed in the United States of America 17
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 1 2 3 4 5
isbn-13: 978-0-226-35648-8 (cloth) isbn-10: 0-226-35648-5 (cloth)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Huber, Toni,
1956– The holy land reborn : pilgrimage & the Tibetan reinvention of
Buddhist India / Toni Huber.
p. cm. — (Buddhism and modernity) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-0-226-

35648-8 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-226-35648-5 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Buddhist pilgrims and

pilgrimages—India. 2. Buddhist pilgrims and pilgrim ages—China—Tibet. 3. Sacred space—India. 4.
Tibet (China)—Relations—India.
5. India—Relations—China—Tibet. I. Title. bq6460.h83 2008 294.3’4350954—dc22
2007042732
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American
National Standard for Information SciencesCPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi
z39.48–1992.
G
G

for mona

contents List of Figures Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration
ix xi xv
Introduction
1
Part One: Locating and Dislocating the Land of the Buddha
1 The Shifting Terrain of the Buddha 2 Buddhist Knowledge and
15
Anachronism in Tibet 3 Journeying to the Centre of the World 4 Tantric
40 58
Buddhist India and Its Tibetan Appropriation
85
Part Two: Reinventing the Holy Land in India 5 Nirvana in
Assam 6 Return to the Centre of the World 7 The Allure of the Atsaras
125 166
8 The Precious Guru in the Punjab
193 232
Part Three: Modern Rebirths of the Holy Land 9
Archaeological and Discursive Rebirths of Buddhist India 10 Encountering
251
the Modern Holy Land 11 Exile in the Land of the Buddha
291 336

vii Notes 377 Bibliography 439 Index 485
G
FIGURES
1.1 The eight places of the Buddha 23
3.1 Tibetan Buddhist experience of India prior to 1300 CE 70
3.2 India according to Lama Shang 72
3.3 Early Tibetan pilgrimage to the eight places of the Buddha 73
3.4 The five holy places scheme 81
4.1 The twenty-four pı¯t.ha in the Sam. vara-man. d. ala 90
4.2 The twenty-four pı¯t.ha within the yogin’s body 91
4.3 Tantric sites of northwest India according to Tibetan pilgrims 101
4.4 Tibetan Devı¯kot.a sites in South Asia and Tibet 110
5.1 Model of the Maha¯bodhi Temple, Narthang Monastery, Tibet, 1937 127
5.2 Tibetan Buddhist pilgrimage in northeast India 128
5.3 The temple of Ma¯dhab at Ha¯jo, 2004 157
5.4 The Bura Ha¯l, site of the Buddha’s nirvana at Ha¯jo, 2004 158
5.5 Flooded, sunken crypt of Gopeshwar Temple, Singri, 2004 159
5.6 Buddhist pilgrim’s test in Gopeshwar Temple, Singri, 2004 160
5.7 Hindu rites at Gopeshwar Temple, Singri, 2004 162
6.1 Ruined Maha¯bodhi Temple and Mahant’s compound, Bodh Gaya¯, 1871 182
6.2 Itinerary of Garshapa Sonam Rabgye in 1752 183
7.1 Eighteenth-century Tibetan pilgrimage and survival of Buddhism in India according to the Third
Panchen Lama 204
7.2 Buddhist and Hindu images in the Bhot Mandir, ca. 1890 224
.
7.3 Bhot. Mahant Trilokh Chandra Giri, ca. 1928 227
7.4 Bhot. Bagan, Howrah, ca. 1928 229
7.5 Bhot Bagan, Howrah, 2005 229
.
ix
1.
Image of Ta¯ra¯ alias “Mahakal” from Bhot Bagan, 2005 230
2.
.
1.
Nineteenth-century Tibetan pilgrimage in the Punjab 241
2.
Na¯landa¯ stu¯pa site no. 3 prior to excavation, 1917–18 253
9.2 Na¯landa¯ stu¯pa site no. 3 after excavation, 1928–29 254
9.3 Parklike setting of restored Maha¯bodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya¯, 1903 256
9.4 Dharmapa¯la and Shaku Ko¯zen, Bodh Gaya¯, 1891 260

9.5 Thirteenth Dalai Lama (centre, wearing spectacles) with Kaniska .
reliquary, Indian Museum, Calcutta, 1910 287
10.1 Maha Bodhi Society pilgrim’s certificate presented to Frederick Oertel by Anagarika
Dharmapa¯la, 1904 294
10.2 Inaugural procession of Buddha relics at the Mu¯lagandhakut.ı¯ Viha¯ra, Sa¯rna¯th, 1931 299
10.3 Tibetan pilgrimage itineraries in India, 1905–45 306
10.4 Tibetan pilgrim’s impression of the Indian railway and “foreigners,” early twentieth century 309

10.5 Amdo Gendun Cho¨phel’s map of Indian Buddhist sites and the railway network 332 .
10.6 Amdo Gendun Cho¨phel’s sketch map of Ra¯jagrha, 1939 333
1.
Tibetan sketch map of the holy mountain of Tsari Dakpa Shelri, early twentieth century 334
2.
Fourteenth Dalai Lama holding Buddha relics with a Maha Bodhi Society monk (standing left of
Dalai Lama with glasses), Chumbi Valley, 1951 342
11.2 Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s first ritual at Bodh Gaya¯, 1956 345
11.3 Fourteenth Dalai Lama presenting Xuanzang’s relics to Jawaharlal Nehru, Na¯landa¯, 1956 346
11.4 Tibetan refugee settlements in South Asia 348
G
acknowledgments
his book had a long, slow gestation, and its birth owes a lot to many different

people. While I have more recently envisaged it as a com panion volume to
my earlier monograph on Tibetan religion, The Cult of Pure Crystal
Mountain (New York, Oxford University Press, 1999), which also deals with

place creation and the ritual culture of pilgrimage in Ti betan societies, this has
admittedly been something of an afterthought. The roots of The Holy Land
Reborn actually reach all the way back to my undergraduate days. I have fond

memories of studying India with Jim Wil son, whose enthusiasm and generosity
as a teacher helped determine my long-term fascination with some of the
dimensions of religion in India that are treated here. Nor have I forgotten how,
during my early days as Jim’s student, I serendipitously came across a book by
August Hermann Francke (1870–1930) in the university library while

daydreaming of Himalayan ad ventures instead of studying. With fascination, I
read and copied Francke’s notes on some of the reinvented Tibetan pilgrimage
sites to which I have now devoted a chapter in this book. Francke was the fi rst
professor to be awarded a chair of Tibetan studies at the Humboldt University in
Berlin, and as fate would have it that is the post I now hold today. To my other
early teacher, and friend, Paul Harrison, I will always be grateful for the
inspiring glimpse into the higher levels of the academic study of Buddhism
which he gave me. Although I chose to follow a different path, the interest in
Buddhist studies which Paul once kindled seems to have fi nally found some
expression in this book. I hope it gives him more satisfaction than regret! I thank
Paul as well for introducing me to Gregory Schopen, and also to his scholarship,
which as a nonphilologist I nevertheless came to appreciate for its
counterintuitive approach.
xi
acknowledgments
During a long period of research and writing, I benefited much from the kind
and generous assistance, constructive criticism, and inspiration of various

friends, colleagues, and informants. I thank them all here sim ply in alphabetical
order, with apologies to those I may have inadvertently overlooked. First, I

would like to offer my sincere gratitude to my many Ti betan informants living
in South Asia, Tibet, and Europe over the past few decades. Thanks also to John
Ardussi, Anthony Aris, Michael Aris, Dandi Swamin Prakash Ashram,
Christopher Atwood, Michael Balk, Heinz Bechert, Duncan Campbell, Di

Cousens, Soumitra Das, Simon Digby, Den nis Dutton, Isrun Engelhardt,
Elizabeth English, Bernard Faure, Gu¨nther Gro¨nbold, Sudeshna Guha, Tsering
Gyalbo, Peter Hansen, Paul Harrison, Jens-Uwe Hartmann, Hanna Havnevik,
Jeffrey Hopkins, David Jackson, Matthew Kapstein, Per Kværne, Donald Lopez
Jr., Alexander Macdonald, Alex McKay, Dan Martin, Irmgard Mengele, Jon
Meisler, Paul Morris, Vishvajit Pandya, Jampa Panglung, Heinz Ra¨ther, Bo Sax,
Gene Smith, Poul Pedersen, Burkhard Quessel, Nicholas and Deki Rhodes,
Nyaken Riba, Aditi Nath Sarkar, Gregory Schopen, Mona Schrempf, Peter
Schwieger, Lobsang Shastri, Jan Sobisch, Elliot Sperling, Heather Stoddard,
Axel Stro¨m, Kate Teltscher, David Templeman and family, Ngawang Thogme,
Alan Trevithick, Tashi Tsering, Helga Uebach, Steven Weinberger, David White,
and Monika Zin.

I am particularly indebted to Jens-Uwe Hartmann for the highly pro ductive
and very enjoyable time I spent at the Institut fu¨ r Indologie und Iranistik,
Munich, over the winter of 2000–2001. While in Munich, I fi nally gained the
space and time I needed to conceive the present form of this book. At the other
end of the process, the positive encouragement and sensible suggestions I have