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Vaishali And the Indianization of Arakan By Noel F. Singer
Noel F Singer was born in Myanmar in 1937. In 1962, he moved to London and worked as a commercial artist and held exhibitions. Having been trained in the classical dances of his country, he often took part in performances. Enthusiasm for Myanmar archaeology and culture, knowledge of the language and frequent visits to Motherland has qualified him, since 1988, to produce thirty-one articles and reviews for Arts of Asia; he is now one of its Contributing Editors.
”The Chandra kings were upholders of Buddhism, guarding and glorifying the Mahamunni [sic] shrine; their territory extended as far north as Chittagong” [then known as Chatigrama], ”The conclusion to be drawn from this MS is that Weasali [Vaishali] was an easterly Hindu kingdom of Bengal, following the Mahayanist form of Buddhism and that bothgovernment and people were Indian as the Mongolian influx had not yet occurred.”Arakan, thedeprived cousin of Burma (Myanmar), has long been neglected. Its antique works of art vandalized or incompetently renovated by the present Buddhist clergy. During the early years of the Christian era, despite rumours of demonic cannibals, its fertile plains attracted Hindu colonists. At the inauguration of metropolis of the Chandra maharaja (s), its inhabitants derided the grandeur of Amaravati, the celestial city of Swargar, Indra’s paradise, claiming their capital was more superior. It was a confident kingdom in which Brahmanism, Mahayana Buddhism and local cults flourished. The court language was Sanskrit. Today, evidence of the Brahmanic presence has been almost eradicated by the present Rakhaing people, determined to present a land ‘untainted’ by any other religion except Theravada Buddhism – when in fact that is far from the case. ▬ Noel F. Singer
