1st Edition

The Return of the Buddha Ancient Symbols for a New Nation

By Himanshu Prabha Ray Copyright 2014
312 Pages
by Routledge India

312 Pages
by Routledge India

The Return of the Buddha traces the development of Buddhist archaeology in colonial India, examines its impact on the reconstruction of India’s Buddhist past, and the making of a public and academic discourse around these archaeological discoveries. The book discusses the role of the state and modern Buddhist institutions in the reconstitution of national heritage through promulgation... Read more

Preface. Preamble: The Buddha in Twenty-First-Century India 1. Engaging With Buddhism 2. The Search for the Historical Buddha 3. The Empire in the Footsteps of Ashoka 4. Excluded Buddhism 5. Buddhism in Memory and History 6. Buddhism and the Birth of a Nation 7. In Retrospect. Bibliography

Biography

Himanshu Prabha Ray is Chairperson of National Monuments Authority, New Delhi, and former Professor, Centre for Historical Studies (CHS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.