Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple
श्री शिव सुब्रमण्यम् मंदिर
The largest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere, a Dravidian shrine of Lord Murugan raised by the Indo-Fijian community at the southern end of Nadi
Nadi, Western Division, Fiji
Śrī Śiva Subramaṇiya Kōvil (Nadi)Also known as: Sri Siva Subramaniya Swami Temple, Nadi Temple, Sri Siva Subramaniya Kovil Fiji
Sri Siva Subramaniya Temple
श्री शिव सुब्रमण्यम् मंदिर
Era
A traditional South Indian temple raised by the Indo-Fijian community, completed in its present form in 1994 on a site of earlier worship; the largest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere
Architecture
Traditional South Indian (Dravidian) style, with a towering gopuram, sculpted deities and vividly hand-painted ceiling frescoes, the woodwork and idols crafted in India
Special
The temple keeps the daily worship of Subramaniya, Meenakshi and Sivan in the South Indian Shaiva-Murugan manner, with its rounds of puja and abhishekam. Timings are set by the temple and vary with the festival calendar, above all around Thaipusam and the annual festival; they should be confirmed locally.
The Sacred Legend · पवित्र कथा
At the southern end of Nadi, on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji, stands a temple whose gopuram rises above the sugar-cane plains in the unmistakable idiom of the Tamil south: the Sri Siva Subramaniya temple, the largest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the few traditional Dravidian temples in all the South Pacific. It is dedicated principally to Murugan, worshipped here as Lord Subramaniya, whose Vel, the divine spear, marks the shrine at the great tower, with a shrine to the goddess Meenakshi and to Shiva, the Sivan, at the other end. The temple's deeper story is the story of a community carried across the ocean. The Indo-Fijian Hindus who worship here are the descendants of indentured labourers, Tamil and South Indian among them, brought to Fiji under the system of indenture, the girmit, in the decades on either side of 1900. They came with almost nothing and kept, across the hardship of the plantations, the faith of the land they had left. Out of that keeping, over generations, rose this temple, built at last in full traditional South Indian style and completed in its present form in 1994, its woodwork and its idols crafted in India, its ceilings hand-painted with the images of the gods. So the temple joins two things: the ancient Shaiva and Murugan worship of the Tamil south, and the newer, hard-won devotion of the Indo-Fijian community that carried it into the South Pacific. To stand before the Vel of Subramaniya at Nadi is to stand where the faith of Tamil Nadu has taken root under the tropical sky of Fiji.
Sacred Designationपवित्र पदनाम
Sacred Origin Storyपवित्र उत्पत्ति कथा
Source: The Shaiva and Murugan tradition of the Tamil south, carried to Fiji by the Indo-Fijian community
Murugan, worshipped at Nadi as Lord Subramaniya, is the son of Shiva and Parvati, the god of the Tamil land, the commander of the divine armies and the destroyer of the demon Surapadma. Born of the fire of Shiva's third eye and nursed, in the telling, by the six Krittika mothers so that he took six faces as Shanmukha, he was given the Vel, the divine spear, by his mother the Goddess, and with it he struck down the demon and freed the worlds. The Vel is his emblem and his power, and at Nadi it marks the shrine of Subramaniya at the great tower.
In the Tamil tradition Murugan is the god of the hills and of the people, worshipped at the six sacred abodes, the Arupadai Veedu, and loved as Kadavul, the very name of God, and as the beautiful youth whose two consorts, Valli and Devasena, stand for the reach of the divine to the wild and to the ordered worlds alike. His worship is among the oldest and most intimate of the Tamil south, and it was this worship that the South Indian labourers carried with them to Fiji.
At the other end of the temple stand the shrines of Meenakshi and of Sivan, Shiva. Meenakshi, the fish-eyed goddess of Madurai, the great Shakti of the Tamil land, and Shiva her lord, are worshipped here beside their son Subramaniya, so that the temple holds the divine family of the Tamil Shaiva tradition: Shiva, the goddess, and Murugan with his Vel. To build such a temple in Fiji was to plant the whole world of Tamil Shaiva devotion in new soil, and to keep, in the images crafted in India and set up under the painted ceilings of Nadi, the gods of the land the community had left.
Sources cited:
- Shaiva and Murugan tradition of the Tamil south
- Skanda Purana and the Tamil devotional tradition of Murugan
- Local tradition of the Indo-Fijian Hindu community at Nadi
Other Traditions · अन्य परंपराएँ
The tradition of the diaspora temple and the girmit community
Scholarly Context
The Sri Siva Subramaniya temple at Nadi belongs to the story of the Indian diaspora in the Pacific and of the Hindu traditions carried by it. From 1879, under the British colonial system of indenture, labourers were brought from India to Fiji to work the sugar plantations; the agreement they came under, from the English word, gave them the name girmitiyas, and their descendants form a large part of the population of Fiji today. Among them were Tamils and other South Indians who carried the Shaiva and Murugan worship of the south. Scholars of the Indian diaspora note how, on the plantations and in the settled community that followed, Hindu worship was kept through household observance, small shrines and festival, and how, as the community grew in confidence and means, it raised temples that reproduced the forms of the homeland. The Nadi temple, rebuilt in full traditional South Indian style with woodwork and idols crafted in India and completed in 1994, is a notable example of this reproduction of Dravidian temple form in the South Pacific, and is described as the largest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere. The temple is significant both as a living centre of Indo-Fijian Hindu worship and as a monument to the endurance of a transplanted tradition. Its dedication to Murugan as Subramaniya, its shrines of Meenakshi and Sivan, and its vividly painted ceilings mark it as a faithful carrying of the Tamil Shaiva-Murugan world into Fiji. Eternal Raga presents the temple within this history of the girmit community and the South Indian tradition it kept, one of the few traditional Dravidian temples in the whole of the Pacific.
Historyइतिहास
The Sri Siva Subramaniya temple stands at the southern end of Nadi, on the main island of Viti Levu in Fiji, and is the largest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the few traditional Dravidian temples in the South Pacific. It is dedicated principally to Murugan, worshipped as Lord Subramaniya, with shrines to the goddess Meenakshi and to Shiva, the Sivan, at the other end.
Its history is bound to the history of the Indo-Fijian community. From 1879 the British brought indentured labourers from India to work the sugar plantations of Fiji, and among them were Tamils and other South Indians who carried the Shaiva and Murugan worship of the south. Under the hardship of indenture, the girmit, and in the settled community that followed its abolition, that worship was kept in household observance and small shrines, and a place of Sivan and Murugan worship grew at Nadi as a focus for the South Indian Hindus of the western part of the island.
Over the twentieth century, as the community grew in numbers and means, the resolve took shape to raise a temple in the full traditional style of the Tamil south. The woodwork and the idols were crafted in India and brought to Fiji, and the temple was built with a towering gopuram and its ceilings hand-painted with the images of the gods, completed in its present form in 1994. So the Dravidian temple form of the homeland was reproduced under the tropical sky of Viti Levu.
Today the temple is a living centre of Indo-Fijian Hindu worship and a landmark of Nadi, drawing devotees to the daily worship of Subramaniya, Meenakshi and Sivan, filling for Thaipusam and the annual festival, and welcoming visitors from across the world who come to see the largest Hindu temple of the Southern Hemisphere. It joins the ancient Shaiva-Murugan tradition of Tamil Nadu to the hard-won devotion of a community that carried its faith across the ocean and kept it, generation upon generation, in a new land.
Historical Timelineऐतिहासिक कालक्रम
In the Tamil south, Murugan is worshipped from ancient times as the god of the land, lord of the six sacred abodes and bearer of the Vel, in a Shaiva-Murugan tradition that will later be carried across the ocean to Fiji.
Murugan worship is among the oldest strata of Tamil religion, attested in the earliest Tamil literature.
The first indentured labourers arrive in Fiji from India under the British system of indenture, to work the sugar plantations; the agreement they come under gives them the name girmitiyas.
The word girmit derives from the English 'agreement', the indenture contract under which the labourers were recruited.
Among the indentured labourers are Tamils and other South Indians who carry the Shaiva and Murugan worship of the south, keeping their faith through household observance and small shrines on the plantations.
A place of Sivan and Murugan worship takes shape at Nadi, serving the South Indian Hindus of the western part of Viti Levu as a focus of their tradition.
Recruitment of indentured labour ends and the indenture system is abolished; the Indo-Fijian community settles as a free people and its worship consolidates in temples and household devotion.
The free Indo-Fijian community grows in numbers and means, and its South Indian members maintain the Nadi temple as a centre of Tamil Shaiva-Murugan worship in western Fiji.
The community resolves to rebuild the temple in the full traditional South Indian style, and craftsmen, woodwork and idols are commissioned from India for the work.
The reproduction of homeland temple forms with imported craftsmen and materials is characteristic of the major diaspora temples.
The Sri Siva Subramaniya temple is completed in its present form, built in traditional Dravidian style with a towering gopuram, its ceilings hand-painted with the images of the gods, and consecrated for worship.
The temple becomes known as the largest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the few traditional Dravidian temples in the South Pacific, drawing worshippers and visitors alike.
The temple fills for Thaipusam and the annual festival, when the Indo-Fijian Hindu community keeps the great observances of Murugan in the South Indian manner, with kavadi and the worship of the Vel.
Sri Siva Subramaniya remains a living centre of Indo-Fijian Hindu worship and a landmark of Nadi, keeping the daily worship of Subramaniya, Meenakshi and Sivan and welcoming visitors from across the world.
What You'll Seeदर्शन में
The presiding deity of the temple is Murugan, worshipped at Nadi as Lord Subramaniya, whose emblem is the Vel, the divine spear given him by the Goddess with which he struck down the demon Surapadma. At the great tower his shrine is marked by the Vel, and he is worshipped in the South Indian manner as the god of the Tamil land, the six-faced Shanmukha, the beautiful youth and commander of the divine armies, often shown with his consorts Valli and Devasena and his mount the peacock.
The temple holds, at its other end, the shrines of Meenakshi and of Sivan, Shiva, so that the divine family of the Tamil Shaiva tradition is present: Shiva the lord, Meenakshi the fish-eyed goddess of Madurai, and their son Murugan with his Vel. The images were crafted in India and brought to Fiji, and set up under the temple's vividly hand-painted ceilings, where the frescoes carry the figures of the gods in the colours of the South Indian temple.
The controlling forms of the temple are thus the great Dravidian gopuram rising above the sanctum, the Vel of Subramaniya marking the presiding shrine, and the painted ceilings overhead, the whole reproducing in Fiji the iconographic world of the Tamil south. To enter is to stand within a temple of Murugan built far from Tamil Nadu yet faithful to it in every image, the gods of the homeland kept in the idols and the frescoes of Nadi.
Distinctive Practicesविशिष्ट परंपराएँ
The Worship of Subramaniya and the Vel
सुब्रमणिय और वेल की उपासना
Daily, at the temple
The central worship of the temple is offered to Murugan as Lord Subramaniya, whose Vel, the divine spear, marks the presiding shrine, in the South Indian manner of daily puja and abhishekam, with the shrines of Meenakshi and Sivan honoured alongside.
Murugan is the god of the Tamil land, and his Vel is the sign of his power, the spear given him by the Goddess with which he freed the worlds from the demon. To worship Subramaniya at Nadi is to keep the worship of the Tamil south under the sky of Fiji, and to offer the daily puja and abhishekam to the god as it is offered in the temples of the homeland. The worship of the presiding Murugan, with the shrines of his mother Meenakshi and his father Sivan, holds the whole family of the Tamil Shaiva tradition in a single temple, and keeps it living for the community that raised it.
Kavadi and the Observance of Thaipusam
कावडी और थैपुसम का अनुष्ठान
Thaipusam and the festivals of Murugan
The community keeps the great Murugan observance of Thaipusam, when devotees carry the kavadi, the arched burden borne on the shoulders as an offering and a vow, and bring milk-pots to the god, in the South Indian manner faithfully reproduced at Nadi.
Thaipusam is among the greatest festivals of Murugan, when the devotee carries the kavadi as a burden of devotion, a vow fulfilled and a penance offered, and brings the paal-kudam, the milk-pot, to pour over the god. To keep Thaipusam at Nadi, with the kavadi and the milk-pot as in the temples of the south, is for the Indo-Fijian community to enact the fullest devotion of the Tamil Murugan tradition in Fiji, the vow and the burden carried to the god who is loved as the lord of the Tamil land. The observance binds the community to the homeland and to the god together.
Keeping the Dravidian Temple in the Diaspora
प्रवास में द्रविड़ मंदिर बचाए रखना
Continually, in the life of the temple
The temple keeps, far from Tamil Nadu, the full form of the South Indian Dravidian temple, its gopuram, its idols crafted in India and its hand-painted ceilings, so that the worship at Nadi reproduces faithfully the temple world of the homeland.
For a community carried across the ocean, to build a temple in the full traditional style of the homeland is itself an act of devotion and of memory. The gopuram, the idols brought from India, the painted ceilings, are not only architecture but the keeping of a whole world of worship, so that the god may be served at Nadi as he is served in the temples of the Tamil south. In the diaspora, where much was lost under indenture, the faithful reproduction of the Dravidian temple is a way of holding the homeland's faith intact, and of giving the community, generation after generation, a place where the gods of the land they left are truly present.
Did You Know?क्या आप जानते हैं?
The Sri Siva Subramaniya temple at Nadi is the largest Hindu temple in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the few traditional Dravidian temples in the South Pacific.
Accounts of the Nadi temple
The temple is dedicated principally to Murugan, worshipped as Lord Subramaniya at the great tower, with shrines to the goddess Meenakshi and to Shiva, the Sivan, at the other end.
Local tradition of the Nadi temple
The temple was built in traditional South Indian style and completed in its present form in 1994, with its woodwork and idols crafted in India and brought to Fiji.
Records of the temple's construction
The Indo-Fijian Hindus who worship here descend from indentured Tamil and South Indian labourers brought to Fiji under the girmit system in the decades around 1900.
History of the Indo-Fijian community
The word girmit comes from the English 'agreement', the indenture contract under which the labourers were recruited; their descendants are the girmitiyas.
History of Indian indenture in Fiji
The temple's interior ceilings are hand-painted with the images of the gods, carrying the frescoed idiom of the South Indian temple under the tropical sky of Fiji.
Accounts of the Nadi temple
Murugan's emblem, the Vel or divine spear given him by the Goddess, marks the presiding shrine, and Thaipusam with its kavadi is among the temple's great observances.
Shaiva and Murugan tradition of the Tamil south
The temple stands at the southern end of Nadi, a short distance from Nadi International Airport, making it one of the first landmarks many visitors to Fiji encounter.
Accounts of the Nadi temple
Visitor Accessप्रवेश जानकारी
The temple is welcoming to visitors as well as devotees, and a small entry or photography fee is typically charged. Footwear is removed before entering, dress should be modest, and no leather articles are taken inside, in keeping with the practice of the South Indian temple. The temple is worshipped in the South Indian Shaiva-Murugan manner, and its year is marked by Thaipusam and the annual festival, when it draws the largest gatherings of the Indo-Fijian Hindu community. On ordinary days the darshan is unhurried, and visitors are shown the sanctum and the painted ceilings. Nadi is on the western side of Viti Levu, a short distance from Nadi International Airport, and the temple stands at the southern end of the town. The climate is tropical, warm and humid through much of the year; timings are set by the temple and vary with the festival calendar, so confirm current arrangements locally, especially around the festivals.
Spiritual Basis
The sanctity of the temple rests on its being a full traditional temple of Murugan, worshipped as Subramaniya, raised by the Indo-Fijian community as a faithful keeping of the Tamil Shaiva-Murugan tradition in the South Pacific. The removal of footwear, the modest dress and the setting aside of leather express the purity proper to the South Indian temple, and the welcome extended to visitors reflects the openness of the tradition. The presence of Subramaniya at the great tower, with the shrines of Meenakshi and Sivan, holds the divine family of the Tamil south in one temple, and to come to Nadi is to come to a place where, for a community carried across the ocean under indenture, the gods of the homeland are truly present, served daily as they are served in the temples of Tamil Nadu.
Contemporary Context
Sri Siva Subramaniya remains a living centre of Indo-Fijian Hindu worship and a landmark of Nadi, worshipped as the temple of Subramaniya and drawing both the devout of the community and visitors from across the world who come to see the largest Hindu temple of the Southern Hemisphere. The town of Nadi, close to Fiji's main international airport, is the setting of the temple. The great festivals, above all Thaipusam and the annual temple festival, draw the largest gatherings, and the temple keeps the South Indian Shaiva-Murugan worship in its full form. Its standing as the largest Hindu temple of the Southern Hemisphere and as a monument of the girmit community's endurance gives it a significance beyond Fiji, drawing pilgrims and travellers alike, though it remains, in its daily life, the temple of the Indo-Fijian Hindus of the western island.
Practical Guidance
Nadi is on the western side of Viti Levu, a short distance from Nadi International Airport, and the temple stands at the southern end of the town, easily reached by road. Remove footwear before entering, dress modestly, and leave leather articles outside; a small entry or photography fee is usually charged, and visitors are generally welcome to see the sanctum and the painted ceilings. Come on an ordinary day for an unhurried darshan, or during Thaipusam or the annual festival for the fuller intensity of the South Indian Murugan worship, when the crowds are large. The climate is tropical and warm, so light modest clothing is comfortable. Confirm the temple's timings and the festival calendar locally before visiting.
Festivalsत्योहार
Thaipusam
थैपुसम
Jan-Feb (Thai)
The great festival of Murugan, kept with the carrying of the kavadi and the milk-pot to the god, observed at Nadi in the full South Indian manner as one of the temple's foremost celebrations, when the Indo-Fijian community brings its vows to Subramaniya.
Skanda Sashti
स्कंद षष्ठी
Oct-Nov (Aippasi)
The six-day festival of Murugan celebrating his victory over the demon Surapadma with the Vel, culminating on the sixth day, observed at Nadi as a central Murugan observance recalling the god's triumph.
Panguni Uthiram and the annual temple festival
पंगुनि उत्तिरम और वार्षिक मंदिर उत्सव
Mar-Apr (Panguni)
The spring festival of the Tamil month of Panguni, associated with the divine marriages including that of Murugan, kept at Nadi as part of the temple's annual festival cycle, when the community gathers for the great worship of Subramaniya and his family.
Diwali
दीवाली
Oct-Nov (Kartik Amavasya)
The festival of lights, kept by the whole Indo-Fijian Hindu community and one of the great public celebrations of Fiji, observed at the temple with lamps and worship, joining the Nadi shrine to the shared festival life of Hindu Fiji.
Traditional Offeringsपारंपरिक अर्पण
Primary Offerings
The Vel and the worship of the Spear
वेल और भाले की उपासना
Vēl (Śakti)
The Vel, the divine spear given to Murugan by the Goddess, is his emblem and his power, with which he struck down the demon Surapadma. At Subramaniya's shrine the Vel is revered as the god present in his weapon, and the devotee's worship is offered before it as before the god himself.
Kavadi
कावडी
Kāvaḍi
The kavadi, the arched burden borne on the shoulders, is carried to Murugan as an offering and the fulfilment of a vow, above all at Thaipusam. To bear the kavadi is to bring one's devotion and penance as a physical burden to the god, the highest of the personal offerings of the Murugan tradition.
Paal-kudam (the milk-pot)
पाल-कुडम (दूध का घड़ा)
Kṣīra
The paal-kudam, the pot of milk carried to the temple and poured over the god in abhishekam, is a favourite offering to Murugan, above all at Thaipusam. The milk, the pure gift of nourishment, is bathed over the deity as an act of love and devotion, and the pot borne to the shrine is itself a vow fulfilled.
Panchamirtham
पंचामृत
Pañcāmṛta
Panchamirtham, the sweet mixture of five ingredients including banana, honey and jaggery associated with the Murugan temples, is offered to the god and shared as prasad, a taste of the god's grace especially loved in the Tamil tradition of Subramaniya.
Vibhuti (sacred ash)
विभूति (पवित्र भस्म)
Vibhūti
Vibhuti, the sacred ash of the Shaiva tradition, is offered and received at the temple and worn by devotees on the brow. As the ash marks the worshippers of Shiva and his son Murugan, it joins the devotee to the Shaiva-Murugan tradition kept at the temple.
Flowers
पुष्प
Puṣpa
Flowers, above all those loved in the Murugan worship, are offered to Subramaniya and to the shrines of Meenakshi and Sivan in the daily puja, garlanding the deities and adorning the sanctum in the South Indian manner, a simple and constant gift of devotion.
Unique to This Temple
The Offering of the Girmit Community at the Diaspora Temple
प्रवासी मंदिर पर गिरमिट समुदाय की भेंट
What is particular to Sri Siva Subramaniya is that the offering to Murugan is made at a temple built far from Tamil Nadu by the descendants of indentured labourers, so that the offering carries with it the whole story of a faith held fast across the ocean. At Nadi the kavadi and the milk-pot, the Vel and the flowers, are brought to Subramaniya as in the temples of the south, but here the offering also honours the keeping of the tradition itself, the labour of a community that under indenture lost much and yet raised, generation by generation, a full Dravidian temple in the South Pacific. A devotee offers to Murugan as at any temple of the god, but the offering the community holds highest is the temple itself and the worship kept living within it, the gods of the homeland served at Nadi under the painted ceilings crafted for them. The offering and the blessing meet at the diaspora shrine: the community brings its long-kept faith to the god, and Subramaniya, present in his Vel far from Tamil Nadu, is held to receive and to bless.
Offerings at Sri Siva Subramaniya follow the South Indian Murugan tradition, with the Vel, the kavadi, the milk-pot, panchamirtham, vibhuti and flowers central, brought to Subramaniya and to the shrines of Meenakshi and Sivan. Eternal Raga presents these practices as a devotional tradition; specific arrangements should be confirmed at the temple.
How to Reachकैसे पहुँचें
Nadi lies on the western side of Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji, in the sugar-growing region near the coast, and the temple stands at the southern end of Nadi town.
By air: Nadi International Airport, Fiji's main international gateway, is a short distance away, so that the temple is among the first landmarks many visitors to Fiji encounter; it is reached from the airport by road within a few minutes.
By road: The temple is at the southern end of Nadi town, easily reached by taxi, bus or car from the airport, the town centre and the resorts of the western coast; Nadi is connected by Fiji's main road along Viti Levu to the towns of the island.
By sea: Fiji is reached by sea and air from across the Pacific, and Nadi, with its airport and its position on the western coast, is the usual point of arrival for visitors, from where the temple is close at hand.
Visitors to Fiji often take in the temple as one of the sights of Nadi, and pilgrims of the Murugan tradition come to it as the largest Hindu temple of the Southern Hemisphere and a stronghold of the South Indian tradition in the Pacific.
Plan Your Visitयात्रा की योजना
🌤 Best Season
May to October, the cooler and drier part of the Fijian year, is the most comfortable time to visit, with warm but less humid weather on the western side of Viti Levu. Thaipusam, in January or February, and the annual temple festival in the Tamil spring are the great Murugan celebrations and the most vivid, though also the busiest, times at the temple. November to April is the warmer and wetter season in Fiji, with higher humidity and the chance of tropical rain, though the temple is visited through the year. The festivals of Murugan, with their kavadi and worship, are the fullest expression of the temple's devotional life. Mornings and evenings, around the temple's puja and abhishekam, are the most atmospheric times for darshan, and the light on the painted ceilings and the gopuram is finest then.
👘 Dress Code
Traditional and modest dress is expected at the temple, as at a working South Indian shrine; shoulders and legs should be covered. Footwear is removed before entering, and no leather articles are taken inside. Simple respectful attire is appropriate for the worship of the god.
📱 Phones & Photography
A small photography fee is typically charged, and photography of the exterior and the painted ceilings is generally allowed on payment; photography within the sanctum may be restricted, so follow the posted rules and the directions of the temple, and keep phones silenced within the shrine.
🏨 Accommodation
Nadi, as the gateway of Fiji's tourism and the site of the main international airport, has a full range of accommodation, from simple guesthouses in the town to the resorts of the western coast nearby, so that visitors to the temple have no shortage of places to stay. Demand rises around Thaipusam and the annual festival, and around the peak tourist season on the western coast, and booking ahead is advisable at those times. The temple is easily visited as part of a stay in Nadi or a wider tour of Viti Levu.
Sacred Soundsपवित्र ध्वनि
Did You Know? · क्या आप जानते हैं?
The same translation error that turned '33 Koti' into '33 crore' in Hinduism also happened in Buddhism. The Chinese translation of Buddhist texts rendered 'Sapta Koti Buddha' (7 Supreme Buddhas) as '7 Crore Buddhas.' The Tibetan translation got it right: 7 types, not 7 crore. One Sanskrit word, misread across two major world religions, generated two identical misconceptions independently.
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