Eastern embrace

Magnificent monuments, paintings and manuscripts attest to the rise and continuing influence of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal and Tibet.

One of the earliest countries to embrace Buddhism was Sri Lanka. In the 3rd century BCE, Sanghamitra, daughter of Emperor Asoka, carried a cutting of the revered Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya to Sri Lanka. Buddhism was symbolically planted, along with the holy tree, on the island. Both the faith and the venerated Bodhi tree continue to flourish.

The paintings of the Sigiriya caves, of the 5th century, in Sri Lanka, are very similar to those of Ajanta. They have the same inward look and a lyrical grace that seem to say that there is an end to the sorrow of the world.

In the 8th and 9th centuries, magnificent Buddhist monuments were constructed in Java. The Borobudur Stupa was built by the Sailendra kings in this period. One of the most magnificent Buddhist monuments, it is the tallest stupa standing in the world. There are many thousands of feet of fine relief, which one sees as one climbs upwards and goes around the stupa.

Nepal is geographically very close to the cultural centres of the Indian plains. There is a great heritage of philosophy and art that Nepal has shared with India over the centuries. With the disruption of Buddhist centres in India after the 12th century, monks and scholars took refuge in Nepal. They carried with them their greatest treasures, their valued manuscripts and paintings. Thereafter, Nepal became one of the main lands that continued the Buddhist heritage of the plains of eastern India. Paintings and sculptures made in Tibet over the next few centuries were mainly made by Nepalese artists.

Benoy K. Behl is a film-maker, art historian and photographer who is known for his prolific output of work over the past 34 years. He has taken over 35,000 photographs of Asian monuments and art heritage and made over a hundred documentaries on art history. This series carries photographs from his photographic exhibition on Buddhist Heritage of the World, which is currently on display in Nara in Japan and in the French Reunion Island. It was also displayed earlier this year in London, Washington, D.C., Tokyo, Leh, New Delhi and at the International Buddhist Conclave in Varanasi. The series has photographs taken in 19 countries/regions across Asia and in one part of Europe which has a 300-year-old Buddhist heritage.