Bodhidharma - The lost hero of India

Many people from India might not know who 'Bodhidharma' is, but outside India, people worship him like God.
Countries like Thailand, China, Japan, etc. People know him, appreciate his work, and worship him like a god. According to the Chinese legends, he founded Shaolin Kung Fu.

He was born between the 5th to 6th centuries, he was from a royal family in the southern part of India. Bodhi Dharma belonged to a royal family. Always a down-to-earth person, he was very much invested in the lifestyle of Buddhist monks. After taking his pledge as a Buddhist Monk, he completed his mission of spreading awareness about Buddhism with his guru in China.

After going to China, he started helping the people there. With his self-made natural medicines, he got the title of a "God" from the people of that place. They started to worship him, as his knowledge and works were phenomenal and it was saving the people of China. He became very famous among his peers and people started to recognise him from all over the world.

After the people started to worship him, he started to teach them different self-defense methods which were impossible for the people to learn at that time. He taught methods such as Kalaripayattu, an Indian form of martial art.

Later, he invented Shaolin Kung Fu to help people learn self-defense in China. He also taught more than 5000 hand techniques to his disciples, along with Dhyana, which lets you control a person's mind. He helped the monks learn Shaolin Kung Fu from the Shaolin monastery.

He is famous in all over the world. People know him by different names in different countries. In Japan, people know him as Daroma.

According to Chinese sources, he came from the western region which consists of the Subcontinent of India.

When he came to China, there was a rise of an epidemic that could've turned into a pandemic soon if it had not stopped. Bodhidharma reached there in time and saved the people of China and probably the world by eliminating the disease from its core.

He is a very underrated legend about whom, many people are not aware. Nevertheless, his contribution to society is epic and priceless.

By: Swati