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Jain and Bön Maps as Historical Sources for the Medieval Period
Dr. M. N. Rajesh & Malsawmdawngliana Lailung
Abstract The central focus of this article is to offer a brief description of the sacred geography of the Jains and the Bönpos and then proceed on to a comparative study of these two religions. The article then argues that there are many commonalities in the sacred geographies of these religions and that though they cannot be geographically pinpointed exactly, they serve as markers of identity for the religious communities respectively. It is thus not enough to simply dismiss them as myths as was done by earlier writers but view them as part of an identity that has a historical basis since they have survived for centuries whereas other aspects have not been part of the collective memory. The article ends with some suggestions on the use of technology to co-relate the cartographic findings.
Jain and Bön maps of the medieval period
Jainism has a history that is older than Buddhism and which also influenced Buddhism to a great degree and which, is only being understood and properly acknowledged after centuries. The study of heterodox religions in India is focused primarily on the Buddhist traditions, thereby marginalizing the lesser known religious systems that. The study of all these traditions would give us a clearer and more comprehensive picture of the religious ferment that took place in sixth century India and would help us to pinpoint the origin of many practices more specifically rather than referring to them just as non-vedic or heterodox. A similar parallel exists in Tibet where the Pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet called the Bön, contributed much to the shaping of Tibetan Buddhism”. This can be seen clearly in the Nyingma Buddhist tradition (the oldest among the four major Buddhist traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and said to have been founded by Acharya Padmasambhava) where there are commonalities like Dzogchen meditation“. Likewise, Buddhism in India overshadowed Jainism and the other heterodox religious traditions; in Tibet too the triumph of Buddhism obliterated the contribution of the Bönpos in the making of the Tibetan culture and also
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