[Buddha-l] Bangladesh Muslim lovefest

[Dan Lusthaus]

>
> Otherwise: nihil novi sub sole. How many earlier temples were
> desecrated and destroyed to secure places on which to erect Buddhist
> viharas? Any attempt at tabulation?
> Artur

This has become one of the standard alibis -- hey, Indians were already 
desecrating and appropriating each others' temples aside from and before 
Muslims got to play that game. While there is some truth to that, it is also 
disingenuous. For instance, in Nagarjunakonda one can see temple pillars 
that demonstrate successive 'appropriations' -- the lower levels depict 
Buddhist art, the level above that Jain art, and the top portion saivite 
art. These reflect different conditions of patronage and political 
affiliation over the centuries. Do you really want to argue that the Jains 
wrestled this away from the Buddhists by armed conflict? More importantly --  
the earlier levels remain *preserved*, not destroyed. You can see the whole 
stratification in a glance. So that argument is apples and oranges, meant to 
throw an obscuring cloud over the matter -- as if, even it all were true, 
two wrongs make a right (or the first one would justify and pardon the 
second one).

Artur, you're smarter than that.

Dan