into popular forms of Hinduism. There is evidence of Hindu temples being
built upon the site of Buddhist pal.l.is; of Hindu iconography and/or deities
appropriating Buddhist motifs; and of Hindu popular literature assimi-
lating Buddhist elements. In some cases, the conversions of Buddhist
centers were gradual though probably quite self-conscious. Such was appa-
rently the case with shrines at Bodhgaya ̄, Sa ̄rnath, Na ̄ga ̄koil, Ka ̄ñcı ̄puram,
and Na ̄ga ̄rjunakonda. A shrine outside of Mangalore in Karnataka, for
example, once devoted to the bodhisattvaAvolokites ́varabecame a shrine to
“Mañjuna ̄tha,” a manifestation of the S ́ivalin.ga.^35 Similarly, in a cave outside
Na ̄ga ̄rjunakonda, once the home of Buddhist monks, one finds an icon to
Vis.n.u as Adis.esa (the sleeping Vis.n.u), perhaps depicted as a Hindu alter-
native to the quiescence sought by monks; Vis.n.u, however, unlike the
Buddha, would awaken from his quiescence and was accessible to devotees.
Similarly, deities such as S ́a ̄sta ̄ (the teacher), appeared to have been a Hindu
alternative to the Buddha and was depicted iconographically in ways that
emulated the pose of earlier Buddhist icons. Indeed Buddha came to be
seen as an avatar of Vis.n.u. That Buddhist monks may have acquiesced in
this process is suggested by Professor Padmanabha Jaini, who reports that
only one text was written by Buddhist monks (and that only as late as the
eleventh century) offering advice on conduct appropriate for the lay-
person.^36 Local kings and rulers, for their part, were increasingly inclined
to patronize Hinduism at least partially because it had been able to assimilate
or accommodate forms of folk and popular religion.
Finally, there were concerted efforts at times to destroy Buddhist
institutions. It occurred in South India by the fourth century when
Na ̄ga ̄rjunakonda was destroyed by S ́aivite warriors. In Kashmı ̄r, such kings
asNaraandMihirakuladestroyed Buddhist establishments. Such destruction
of Buddhist institutions was virtually completed by the armies of Mahmu ̄d
of Ghaznı ̄in the eleventh century and Timur of Samarkandin the
fourteenth. Even though some of the havoc may have been wrought for
political rather than religious reasons, the outcome was the same: Buddhism
was virtually gone from the subcontinent by the fourteenth century.
In the meanwhile, Jainism was also threatened by the wave of devotion-
alism with its accessible deities and colorful ritual life. Jainism, nonetheless,
survived for a variety of reasons. Jain monks offered self-conscious alter-
natives to Hindu popular religion and literature. Unlike the Buddhists, they
produced some fifty texts on conduct proper to a Jain layperson.^37 They
produced alternative versions of the Maha ̄bha ̄rataandRa ̄ma ̄yana, wherein
Ra ̄ma and Kr.s.n.a were portrayed as Jaina heroes subject to the principles
of Jaina ethics and Ra ̄van.a was killed, not by Ra ̄ma, but by Laks.mana, so that
Ra ̄ma could be reborn in heaven for his observance of ahim.sa.^38 Similarly,
Hindu deities were to be found in some Jaina temples as “attendants” and/or
The Post-classical Period 115