In Rajasthan, the period from the eighth to the tenth century is the period of the rise of the Pratiharas. The Pratiharas considered themselves to be descendants of Lakshmana, the younger brother of Lord Rama. Like the Guptas, the Pratiharas also built a large number of temples and statues of Varaha Avatar, the Medini savior of Lord Vishnu and Sheshasayi Vishnu served by Lakshmi. Nevertheless, the Pratihara inscriptions mention Buddhism at several places. A Pratihara inscription kept in the British Museum mentions a donation to a Buddhist monk. When the genie traveler Wainsang visited Bhinmal in 641 AD before the Pratiharas took power, he has mentioned a Buddhist monastery in Bhinmal, in which 100 Buddhist monks lived, but during the Pratiharas period Buddhism attained an inferior state. Gaya and the number of his followers was continuously decreasing. Like Buddhism, the propagation of Jainism was also limited during this period.
Like the Guptas, the Pratiharas have a rich cultural history. The kingdom of the Pratiharas of Jalore spread not only from Marwar or Rajasthan but from Kutch to Bengal. That is why most of the temples built from the eighth to the tenth century have the characteristics of the Mahamaru style, the human vitality with folk artistic spontaneity and sentimental ornamentation. There is no place left in this entire region where the Gurjara Pratiharas have not built artistic temples and stepwells. In these temples, apart from Buddhist, Gupta and Gandhara influences, the muscularity, elegance, folk artistic spontaneity, ornamentation and yogic tableau of the life of the Pratiharas are especially visible.
The old temples of Osian - Sachiyay Mata Temple, Surya Mandir, Trio Harihar Temple, Pipalda Mata Temple and Mahavir Temple belong to the period from AD 750 to AD 825. In Osian, Buddhist art, Jain art and Gupta art were coordinated in the Pratihara period architecture. The imprint of this culture was later visible in the whole of North India. The climax of temple art that is seen in Khajuraho has been prepared by the Gurjara Maru or Mahamaru style of Pratihar period. The temples of Lamba, Buchkala, Mandore and Abhaneri belong to the same period. The place known by the names of Rajourgarh and Paranagar is considered to be the last outstanding contribution of the Pratiharas to Rajasthan.
Buddhist statue in Choti Khatu
In Choti Khatu, 'L' shaped Pratihar period of English script is situated. As soon as you come down from the stairs at the entrance, in the left niche of this huge stepwell, there is an inscription inscribed on the head of Shiva with a jatted jute and a rectangular rock plate at some intervals. There are 9 lines in this article which is in devious script and is believed to be of 9th century AD. It has been said in the article that this stepwell was built in the desert. Beautiful semi-pillars with Ghat Pallavas have been made on both sides of this article. There is a three storey building in this stepwell. In the central part of the two tiers, there are Ghata Pallava on either side, chariots with ornamentation between the huge pillars with semi-lotus, on which beautiful sculptures are engraved. The gatekeepers and Makar Vahini Ganga and Kachchpavahini Yamuna goddesses are inscribed on the lower part of the pillars. The door branch of the chariots is also leaflet and Ganga and Yamuna are inscribed in the lower part. The upper part of the chariots resembles that of the shikhara-shaped temples. A wonderful treasure trove of ancient idols is located in the monastery of the Nath sect located here. Many sculptures are selected in the walls of the monastery. These include idols from Vaishnavism to Shaivism, Vaammargi, Buddhism and Jainism. These include Buddhist monks, Lord Bhuvan Bhaskar riding on a chariot of seven horses, Kubera carrying a sura pot in one hand and a money box in the other, serpent girls, fish girls, male-female and nymphs working in different postures etc. Many ancient sculptures have also been found in the ancient Jagirdar situated on a high plateau in the village, which are selected vertically in the walls. These idols seem to have been brought from different temples.
End of Buddhism in Rajasthan
It is difficult to say when Buddhism completely ended from Rajasthan, but it is certain that the conquest of Muslims had a fatal blow on Buddhism. Buddhism was a religion of non-violence but in this age of national struggle there was no place for such a religion. Although the decline of Buddhism had already begun, the Muslim invaders also ended their residual influence, which was little left in Bengal. A parchment is available in the Oriental Vidya Institute, Jodhpur, on which a Buddhist text named Arya Mahavidya is depicted in the Pala style. It is not known which century this book belongs to.
Influence of Buddhism on Sixteenth Century Monuments
Fatehjung Gumbad remains near Alwar railway station. It was built in AD 1547 in the memory of Khanzada Fatehjung Khan. The influence of Buddhist stupas is visible on its domed canopy. The head of a Buddhist statue has also been found from Chaksu near Jaipur which appears to be of the sixteenth century. A large number of sculptures related to Hinduism have been found from here, whereas Buddhist idols only one. This suggests that there was no influence of Buddhism around Jaipur in the sixteenth century.
status of Buddhism at present
According to the 2011 census, out of the total population of Rajasthan 6,85,48,437, the number of Hindus is 6,06,57,103 (88.49 percent), the number of Muslims is 62,15,377 (9.07 percent), the number of Christians is 96,430 (0.14 percent), the number of Sikhs The number of Jains is 8,72,930 (1.27 percent), the number of Jains is 6,50,493 (0.91 percent), the number of Buddhists is 12,185 (0.02 percent) and the number of other religions is 4,676 (0.01 percent). In the state, 67,713 (0.10 per cent) people did not register their religion information. It is clear that at present Buddhism is almost extinct in Rajasthan.