Here is a photographic celebration of the greatest Buddhist art and monuments—all placed in a rich historical and cultural context. These beautifully presented sacred treasures and relics paint a vivid portrait of this venerable religion, from its point of origin in northern India and outward, through the different kingdoms and empires of central, southern, and eastern Asia. Each region receives individual attention, with an examination of Buddhism’s influence on the area, its incredible legacy of artifacts and monuments, and the meaning of the faith’s exquisite devotional paintings and emblems. In close-up images see The Temple of the God King in Cambodia; an elaborately carved ivory netsuke—or Japanese miniature sculpture that was hung from kimonos and sashes; and a gilt statue of the Buddha himself.
The richly varied traditions of Buddhism have given us one of the most visually stunning cultural legacies of any great faitha heritage of sacred art and architecture built up over two and a half millennia by both wealthy patrons and humble devotees. This book, illustrated with more than 160 color photographs, is a catalog of such treasures in the various Asian lands where Buddhism took root, from its origins in northern India to Tibet, Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Korea, and Japan. Here are the astonishing caves of Ajanta and Ellora in India, the glittering monuments of the Sukhotai rulers in Thailand, and the stone-carved microcosm of the universe at Angkor, once the heart of the Khmer empire. Here too are closeups of intricately carved netsuke, gilded temple paintings, and beautifully preserved mandalas.
