History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c12.37

c12.37

As regards Buddhism the pilgrim found some hundred *Sanghārāmas*, and 10,000 priests all of whom studied the teaching of the *Sthavira* school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The Hindu, including the Jaina temples numbered about eighty and in other parts around he found that the sect of the Digambaras had many adherents. Hiuen-Tsang also refers to the tradition current then that the Tathāgatha in olden times when he lived in this world frequented this part very much and converted many men. Therefore Asoka the Buddhist emperor is believed to have built a large number of *stūpas* here traces of which the pilgrim was able to notice in many places around Kāñchi. The Chinese pilgrim also refers to the tradition that Kāñchīpuram was the birth place of Dharmapāla, the well-known metaphysician who preceded Śīlabhadra as head of the great University of Nalanda. The pilgrim also visited Molo-kiu-chi (the Pāṇḍya country) where he found some of the inhabitants following the true doctrine, but others impetuous and wholly given to commercial gain. The Buddhist pilgrim also found that in the Pāṇḍya country his religion was in a state of decay though traces of monasteries were found everywhere.³