The Seekers of Enlightenment

In the lands of the Šāhnāme many religions have flourished and evolved in the melting pot that is the east. One of the largest faiths that has a foothold within the Šāhnāme lands is the one locally known by the Šāhnāme as 'Ronahî', to the practitioners as 'Voudismós' but more likely known as 'Buddhism'. From a time before the Šāhnāme ruled over the east, a large nation known as Babylon ruled and traded with the east, eventually converting to their faiths. As most trade relations by Babylon were done with the far-east colonies to the south, Buddhism spread incredibly quickly among the citizens of Babylon, with vast temples and statues being erected in the Buddhas honor. In Šāhnāme lands these traditions have not been forgotten, a large statue to the Buddha had been placed in the Ka'bah before all other idols in order to cement the Buddha's power within the native lands. The Statue is incredibly large and reaches the roof of the Ka'bah and thousands of Buddhists travel to Shahr-e-Ray from their farming grounds or mines as pilgrimage to the Buddha.

As the Šāhnāme lands are renowned as a melting pot for cultures and faiths, it is only expected that a syncretic faith of Buddhism and local Hellenic cults evolved. It was only natural for the Helleno-Šāhnāme to create a single common divinity by combining the image of the god-king Apollo with the traditional physical characteristics of the Buddha. The Helleno-Šāhnāme stylistic influence on the representation of the Buddha, through its idealistic realism, also permitted a very accessible, understandable and attractive visualization of the ultimate state of enlightenment described by Buddhism, allowing it reach a wider audience.

Because of this, Buddhism has become quite popular among the immigrated Hellenic citizens, and even more-so on the Helleno-Šāhnāme.