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of Amarakoşa Sastha is the Buddha. Amarasingha was a Jain by faith. A number of Buddha images and ruins of Sastha temples have been found in Travancore and the images are worshipped these days by the Hindus. An old book in Sanskrit has narrated some of the activities of Varagunan for promoting Buddhism in Kerala. This king was an eminent scholar noted for his religious toleration. He was a rationalist and a devotee in the Temple of the Universal Spirit. He was an ardent promoter of human brotherhood and peace in Kerala.
JAIN JOURNAL
During the reign of Varagunan Sabarimalai, which was a noted centre of Jain worship in the previous centuries became a Buddhist centre of worhip for the people of Kerala. Thus king is believed to have installed an image of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Buddha on Sabarimalai. It is the present image called Ayyappan worshipped by the Hindus. Similar Buddha images have been found in China, once the citadel of Mahayana Buddism, in Asia.
After the 12th century A.D. Jainism and Buddhism declined in Kerala because of the revival of Saivism and Vaisnavism. Sabarimalai the centre of Buddhist worship in the previous centuries changed hands and fell under the management of the Pantalam king of Travancore. He continued to keep the Buddha image installed by Varagunan besides maintaining some of the Jain and Buddhist rites, ceremonies and long fasts of the Jains. The name of the Buddha image came to be known as Ayyappan or God Father. One of the trustworthy evidence to prove these facts is that Ayyappa pilgrims visiting Sabarimalai should observe fasts, restrain from eating meat or any other animal food preparations, they should not partake intoxicating beverages and should have no sexual relations with women. Another noteworthy custom is that the pilgrims should be clad in black garments, one of the age-old customs observed by the Buddhists in some of the South-East Asian countries while they were on pilgrimage. These Ayyappa Hindu pilgrims should also repeat devotional hymns like saranam Ayyappa Svamiye sasanam-I take refuge in Ayyappan. The saraṇam is Buddhistic like Buddham sarṇam gacchāmi or I surrender to the Buddha. Lastly, the pilgrims should ascend eighteen steps to reach the sannidhānam for darsan of the Ayyappa image. These eighteen steps are symbolic among the several rules of conduct prescribed not only in Jainism and Buddhism but also in Hinduism. There are several reasons to maintain the former Buddha image on Sabarimalai. One reason is that the Buddha is the 9th incarnation of Mahavisnu according to Bhagavatham, the most important Hindu scripture. Therefore, there is no reason why the Hindus should refuse to worship the image of the Buddha. Adi Sankara in the 8th century A.D.,
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