Haunting the Buddha

Abstract

AbstractAlthough Buddhist monasteries are commonly understood as being institutions dedicated to non‐attachment and transcendence, the architectures of the earliest known monasteries are overwhelmingly decorated with sculptural images of minor deities and spirits directly associated with wealth, health and worldly success (yakshas, nagas, etc). This text refutes the notion that the presence of these deities is linked to periods of decline in Buddhism by demonstrating how the inclusion of these semi‐divine figures was part of an intentional process by which the Buddhist monastic community managed to attract adherents and expand into new regions. Specifically, the incorporation of these supernatural beings into Buddhist contexts provided the Buddhists with a social role as the tamers and keepers of potentially dangerous and unpredictable spirits. This new social relevance ensured Buddhist patronage after the cessation of royal support (c. 200‐100 bce) and provided the monastic community with a strategy for expansion. Both the architecture and the sculpture served as important visual markers that signified the spiritual authority of Buddhist teachings and identified the monastic community as spiritually accomplished individuals worthy of support. This work situates Buddhism within the social and political contexts of early India and in so doing explores the contributions made to the developing monastic institution by the religious ideas and local beliefs that surrounded it.