Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or simply the Buddha, was a sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He was born in Nepal and is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE.

The word Buddha means "awakened one" or "the enlightened one". "Buddha" is also used as a title for the first awakened being in a Yuga era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (Pali sammāsambuddha, Sanskrit samyaksaṃbuddha) of the present age. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region. He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala.

Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

Gautama Buddha (film)

Tathagatha Buddha: The Life & Times of Gautama Buddha (Hindi: बुद्ध), also known as Gautama Buddha and as The Path Finder, is a multilingual feature film on the life and times of the Buddha directed by Allani Sridhar and is based upon the story by Sadguru Sivananda Murty. The film was released in Telugu in 2007 and in other languages in 2008.

Production

Filming took place primarily in Ramoji Film City, Annapurna, Manchirevula, Bodh Gaya, and Lumbini, and was in post-production by July 2007. The film's audio had its launch by Chief Minister Dr. Rajasekhar Reddy in November 2007, at which event he praised the film and director by saying that "the film and its message were the need of the hour as people were getting tired of all the violence around them" The film was produced and released in three different languages; as Tadgatha Buddha in Hindi, as Gautama Buddha in Telugu, and as The Path Finder in English.

Plot

Initially released in 2007 by Dharmapatha Creations, the film tells the story of Siddhartha Gautama, Prince of Kapilavastu, situated in Nepal, who lived during 6th century B.C. He was born on Vaisakha Poornima. The history of his family - The Ikshvaku dynasty is traceable to pre-Ramayana times. Renouncing the life and responsibility of a king, Siddhartha Gautama sought a solution to human misery. Ever in the midst of the great Indian religious and spiritual traditions, he noticed what was most needed by all people - Dharma, and Non-violence. He sought a direct path to salvation. He was a lone pathfinder who inspired the religions that eventually spread to China, Japan, and to the United States and Europe as late as the 20th Century.

Family of Gautama Buddha

The Buddha was born into a family of the kshatriya varna in what is Nepal in 567 BCE. He was called Siddhartha Tharu in his childhood. His father was king Suddhodana Tharu, leader of the Shakya clan in what was the growing state of Kosala, and his mother was queen Maya Devi Tharu. He was raised by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati, after his mother's death seven days after childbirth.

He later married Yasodharā, and together they had one child, a son, Rāhula. Both Yaśodharā and Rāhula later became disciples of Buddha.

His first cousin, by his father, Ananda, joined the Buddha as his attendant.

Suddhodana

Much of the information on Suddhodana comes from Buddhist legend and scripture. He is believed to be a leader of the Shakya clan, who lived within the state of Kosala, on the northern border of Ancient India. Although in Buddhist literature he is said to be a hereditary monarch, he is now believed to have been an elected head of a tribal confederacy. Suddhodana's father was Sinahana.