In contrast to the marked historical developments in monastic Buddhism in the first millennium ce, lay Buddhism was more conservative. The laity continued their devotions in pretty much the same way, at pilgrimage sites that remained more or less the same. Some new pilgrimage sites were built, some were abandoned, and Buddha images began to be erected at pilgrimage sites but, for the most part, the laity continued to circumambulate large pilgrimage stupas and to practice more festive communal rituals in the courtyards surrounding them. This is not to say that there were no changes in popular Buddhism in the first millennium ce. There were. Those changes that did occur, however, had more to do with the number of lay Buddhists worshiping at Buddhist sites, not the manner of their worship. As the sangha progressively withdrew from regular contact with the laity in the first millennium ce, the laity returned the favor, shifting their devotions to rival religious orders. This shift was facilitated by the incorporation of Buddhist architectural, ritual, and doctrinal elements by rival religious sects. As the practice of monastic Buddhism changed, the laity increasingly found the rites and rituals of nascent Hinduism and other sects more satisfying, if only because the ritual practices of these new sects seemed so familiar. As a result, numerous Buddhist pilgrimage sites across India were abandoned, with many sites taken over by Hindus, Jains, and others. By the end of the first millennium ce the laity had abandoned Buddhism throughout most of India. The most notable exception to this pattern of abandonment was in the Northeast, Orissa, and the Gangetic Plain, where lay Buddhists continued to frequent pilgrimage centers with at least some support of the sangha. Since the process of decline of Buddhism in the Gangetic Plain, Orissa, and the Northeast is markedly different from the rest of India, for the most part, I will reserve discussions of those regions until Chapter 7.
World History
