INDIA, Amravati in Andhara Pradesh

January 5 - 16  2006. KALACHAKRA.  As requested by Japan-based Busshokai Foundation through Norbulingka Institute, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has kindly consented to bestow the Kalachakra initiation in January 2006 at Amravati in Andhra Pradesh.  The small town in southeastern India is holy for the Buddhists as it was the place where Lord Buddha gave the first Kalachakra root tantra on the request of King Dawa Sangpo (Suchandra).

The 12-day gathering will begin on 5 January 2006 with preliminary teachings.  However, the actual Kalachakra initiation will be given on 13 and 15 January.  This Kalachakra will be sponsored by Busshokai Foundation and will be organised by the Norbulingka Institute.

A committee has been set up to overlook the preparations for the religious gathering.  A website www.kalachakra06.com  is being constructed to give information on the event. Information about the Kalachakra will also be provided in the various medias.

This Kalachakra is the 30th and it significantly coincides with the 2550th anniversary of the passing away of Lord Buddha. His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave the first Kalachakra initiation in 1954 at Norbulingka in Lhasa, Tibet.
 

January 5	Thursday	Ground Ritual Preparation Prayers (Day One
January 6	Friday	Ground Ritual Preparation Prayers (Day Two)
January 7	Saturday	Ground ritual Preparation Prayers (Day Three)
January 8	Sunday	Preliminary Teachings (Day One)
January 9	Monday	Preliminary Teachings (Day Two)
January 10	Tuesday	Prelininary Teachings (Day Three)
January11	Wednesday	Kalachakra Ritual and Offering Dance
January 12	Thursday	Students' Preparation (Preliminary Initiation)
January 13	Friday	Kalachakra Initiation (Day One)
Janaury 14	Saturday	Kalachakra Initation (Day Two)
January 15	Sunday	Kalachakra Initiation (Day Three)
January 16	Monday	Long Life Empowerment for the Public and Long Life Ceremony for His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Website: http://www.kalachakra06.com

About Amravati:
Amravati is 32 kms from Guntur Town and also Located 30 miles (48.27 Kilometers) from Vijayawada on the right bank of the Krishna River, Amravati (or Amaresvaram) houses one of the best-known Buddhist relics. Also known as Dhanyakatakam and "Deepaladinne", it was the capital of the later day Satavahanas and was considered as the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage center in India. Amravati is most famous for the largest Stupa in the country, the Mahachaitya Stupa, built during the 2nd century BC. The Stupa was discovered in 1797 by the British archaeologist Colonel Colin Mackenzie. Amravati is also famous for the temple of Amareswara, which consists of a massive Lingam.  The extensive mounds of Dharankota located on the west of Amravati, together with Nagarjunakonda and Amravati form the Golden Triangle of Buddhism in Andhra Pradesh.

Significance of Amaravati
Amaravati, which was the location of the grandest stupa in Southern India, has long associations with Buddhism. Indeed, the history of the Amaravati stupa parallels the flourishing of Buddhism in India, from the reign of the Buddhist Mauryan emperors of the 3rd Century BCE to the 14th century CE. The creation and decline of the stupa is linked to the rise and fall of the dynasties of the region, as well as to the growth and decline of Buddhism in Andhradesha, now called Andhra Pradesh--the area bordering the Krishna River.

The founding of the stupa in the 2nd century BCE follows the reign of King Ashoka, when Buddhism had already established a strong presence in Andhradesha. The antiquity of the deposits at Amaravati indicate that society at that time was literate, complex, and highly organized. The early stupa seems to have been a simple structure with limestone crossbars and simple carvings, surrounding an unadorned domed stupa. Over the centuries, it was periodically restored and newer elements of various styles were added. The most important renovation was done in the time of the Shatavahana kings, who had established their capital at nearby Dharanikota. Their reign, from the 2nd to the 3rd century CE, marked the high period of the monument. Extensive building was funded by the many merchants who conducted flourishing business with South Asia and other parts of India; their names could be found carved in the stupa. Most of the elaborate sculptures, which have found their way into museums in India and the British Museum, date from this later period. The content of these works of art suggests that the stupa belonged to the Mahayana period.

Archaeological findings indicate that very little was added to the stupa after the 3rd century CE. It seems that the structure was maintained, although interest in Buddhism declined from that time onwards. When the Chinese monk Hsuan Tsang visited the area in the 7th century, the stupa was already decrepit and Hinduism had revived in the region. Nevertheless, he observed there were about twenty Buddhist monasteries in the area with about one thousand monks in residence, mostly belonging to the Mahasamghika School.

References to the stupa by a Singhalese monk in 1344 indicate that Amaravati remained an important site. His account of his activities in India, now preserved in Kandy, Sri Lanka, describes how he carried out repairs to the structure. This implies that Buddhists from other countries continued to visit the site comparatively late in the life of Buddhism in India. However, this seems to be the last written reference to the Amaravati Stupa, which subsequently fell into oblivion and disrepair.

The next reference, in 1796, describes only ancient mounds. A local landlord who had shifted his residence from Chintapalli to Amaravati laid the foundation of a modern township around the nearby Amareshvara temple, dedicated to Siva, which--dating back to the 10th century--had become an important Hindu place of worship. Many people settled in the area at his invitation and the building activity that ensued caused many of them to help themselves to the abundant supplies of bricks and limestone slabs yielded up by the various mounds that marked the stupa complex. Some elaborate sculptures surfaced and came to the attention of Colonel Colin Mackenzie in 1797. Several European officials then took an interest in collecting sculptures from the site and some attempts were made to excavate the stupa in 1845. More excavations were carried out 1877, 1881 and 1908-09. As a result, many of those carvings that had survived were removed and have been preserved in the local Archaeological Museum, the Government Museum in Madras and the British Museum in London, where there is a special Amaravati Gallery.

Several scholars have identified Amaravati with Dhanyakataka (Pal-den Dre-pung in Tibetan) which Tantric scriptures describe as the place of origin of many of the Tantric teachings, in particular the Kalachakra. Several Tibetan pilgrims have visited the area in times past, prominent among them is Gendun Chophel, the renowned Tibetan scholar, who records that in the late 1930s very little historical evidence remained.

The Mahayana sutras appeared between 1st century BCE and 4th century CE in Andhradesha. The Perfection of Wisdom Sutras (Prajnaparamita Sutras) and the Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra, with its account of the Bodhisattva Vimalakirti leading the life of a layman, appeared in the first two centuries of this period. Around 100 CE, the Sukhavati-vyuha Sutra, with its description of Amitabha’s Pure Land and the possibility of going there, appeared. In approximately 200 CE, the White Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapundarika Sutra) appeared, which emphasized the ability of every sentient being ultimately to become a Buddha, and explaiined the way that all the vehicles of the Buddhist path fit together as skillful means. It also gives much emphasis on the devotional aspect.

Nagarjunakonda, near to Amaravati, is associated with the great Indian Buddhist master Nagarjuna who propounded the Middle Way or Madhyamaka between 150 and 250 CE, based on the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras which he had recovered from nagas. This was crucial to the emergence of Mahayana Buddhism. Nagarjuna also wrote his celebrated Friendly Letter (Suhrillekha) to one of the local Shatavahana Kings, Gautamiputra. The Mind Only or Chittamatra School developed from the teachings of the Descent into Lanka Sutra (Lankavatara Sutra), which also appeared in Andhradesha around 300 CE.

Literary evidence further reveals that the earliest tantra, the Guhyasamaja Tantra, also emerged in Andhradesha, around the 3rd century CE. The first commentaries to it are attributed to Nagarjuna. Finally, the earliest appearance of Tantra in Andhradesha corresponds to the reference in the Kalachakra texts that Buddha first taught the four classes of Tantra from the four faces of Kalachakra at the Dhanyakataka stupa.

The third sacred Buddhist site referred to in the scriptures as located in this region is Potala, the mountain regarded as the residence of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva embodying Compassion. However, there is as yet no consensus about its exact location.