Dates
of the Buddha:
The historicity of Buddha is accepted
by all. But there is no unanimity of the date. In Sri Lanka, 483 BC
is accepted as the date of his nirvana while in Burma 544 BC is
accepted. In Tibet it is believed to be 835 BC, while in China, 11th
century BC is the accepted date. Buddha was an Indian and the Indian
Puranic tradition believes that the nirvana took place in 1793 or
1807 BC However, in the educational institutions, the chronology
prepared by the British scholars is taught and according to them,
the Ceylonese date i.e., 483 B. C is the date of nirvana. But in
1956 AD, the 2500th anniversary of the Mahanirvana was celebrated in
India which means that the Burmese date was given recognition. One
date is taught in educational institutions and functions are
celebrated according to another date. It is said that the Burmese
initiated the idea and funded the publications and a part of the
celebrations. Is it not funny to note that historical dates change
according to the availability of funds ? it is a pity that no body
questioned why the functions were celebrated on a different date.
Differences of opinion exist even on the date of Adi Shankara and
strangely these differences do not prick the Indians.
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