SHRI SAI LEELA - Under Construction

SHRI SAI LEELA – APRIL 1986etc. seem to indicate either a common origin or farmer intercourse.Some of the inhabitants.... are said to dress in the same manner asthe Hindus of Western India, and that Hindu temples are reported toexist in some parts..." Buddhist images of Amaravati period havebeen found in Celebes as also some other relics "similar to these stillin daily use in South India...." Thus we may infer that South IndianBuddhism was received at first on the west coast of the island wherethese relics were found at Sempaga above Neolithic layer. "So wecan say, without great exaggeration, that the people of further Indiawere still in the midst of late Neohithic civilization when theBrahmano-Buddhist culture of India came into contact with them."The Philippines were just beyond Borneo and Celebes and Indiansea-adventurers who came to these islands for trade no doubt takethe Philippines in their stride on their way to parts in the Gulf ofTonkin and the South China sea. Archaeological excavations carriedout in the Philippines around 1920 provide clear evidence of tradecontacts between these island and South India dating back to wellbefore the beginning of the Christian era. Also from Java, Sumatraand Borneo Hindu culture spread to the Philippines and the Sanskritlanguage influenced the two principle languages of the island,Tagalog and Bisaya. Many of the Sanskrit words in these twolanguages refer to commerce and commodities, thus strengtheningthe inference that the earliest Indian contacts with the Philippineswere established by Indian traders. Hindu influence is also felt in themythology, folklore, early literature, codes of law, art and design andother symbols of the cultural, social and political life of thePhilippines. A.L. Kroeber, an American anthropologist, is most31WWW.SAILEELAS.ORG