From Royal Ideology to Religious Polemics: The Evolution of the Śākyan Tutelary Temple in South Asia

This article explores the evolution of a story, common to many Buddhist traditions, narrating the Bodhisattva’s presentation as an infant at the Śākyan tutelary temple. Contrary to previous readings of the story, I argue that from its earliest occurrences this story was meant to shape the image of the Bodhisattva and the Śākya clan as an eminent royal lineage. As the article suggests, this image was fashioned in light of the prominent royal dynasties of Middle Period South Asia (ca. 1st–5th c. ce), particularly the Kuṣāṇas and Sātavāhanas. However, as time elapsed and the story evolved, it accumulated additional meanings and motifs which shifted its focus from a tale of royal symbolism to a polemical story of Buddhism’s religious superiority. To illustrate the development of this narrative I analyse both literary sources, with special attention to the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya, which likely contains the earliest extant literary version, and various visual sources found primarily in Āndhradeśa and the site of Kanaganahalli (Karnataka, in the Greater Āndhra region), where the story clearly carried special significance.