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Book Cover
E-book
Author Ray, Himanshu Prabha, author

Title Archaeology and Buddhism in South Asia / Himanshu Prabha Ray
Published London : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018
©2018

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Description 1 online resource
Contents Chapter Introduction -- chapter 1 Spread of Buddhism: regional patterns -- chapter 2 The written word: language and identity -- chapter 3 Travelling relics: spreading the word of the Buddha -- chapter 4 Religious travel and rituals -- chapter 5 The shifting equations: Buddhism in a multireligious milieu
Summary This book traces the archaeological trajectory of the expansion of Buddhism and its regional variations in South Asia. Focusing on the multi-religious context of the subcontinent in the first millennium BCE, the volume breaks from conventional studies that pose Buddhism as a counter to the Vedic tradition to understanding the religion more integrally in terms of dhamma (teachings of the Buddha), dana (practice of cultivating generosity) and the engagement with the written word. The work underlines that relic and image worship were important features in the spread of Buddhism in the region and were instrumental in bringing the monastics and the laity together. Further, the author examines the significance of the histories of monastic complexes (viharas, stupas, caityas) as also religious travel and pilgrimage that provided connections across the subcontinent and the seas. An interdisciplinary study, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars in South Asian studies, religion, especially Buddhist studies, history and archaeology
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Vendor-supplied metadata
Subject Buddhism -- South Asia
Buddhist antiquities -- South Asia
Excavations (Archaeology) -- South Asia
RELIGION -- Comparative Religion.
Antiquities
Buddhism
Buddhist antiquities
Excavations (Archaeology)
SUBJECT South Asia -- Antiquities
Subject South Asia
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781351394321
1351394320
1351394339
9781351394338
9780203728543
0203728548
9781351394314
1351394312
1138304891
9781138304895