Buddhists all over the world celebrate every year Buddha Purnima solemnly, chanting Buddham Sharanam Gutchhami, Sangham Sharanam Gatchhami in a serene atmosphere. It is understood that there are about 350 million Buddhists spread in many a country of the world.
Lord Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism was born in 563B.C. He renounced sensual pleasures and advocated total spiritual detachment from the world. The religion founded by him is today one of the major Asian religions.
Emperor Ashoka who ruled India in third century B.C, (died in 232 B.C.) galvanised growth of Buddhism in Asia by becoming a Buddhist disciple himself. He sent Buddhist missionaries to far-flung lands. By conscious and consistent efforts, Ashoka transformed Buddhism from a localised religion to a faith of world importance.
During emperor Ashoka’s reign and also later, Buddhism spread widely in Central and Western Asia. Its missionaries reached far east in the south and the south-east Asia. Along with the spread of basic Buddhism in the above-mentioned areas of Asia, the Buddhist art and culture also flourished in these countries. Many of the ancient relics and archaeological findings have drawn attention of the historians of the day. Early Buddhism was not far away from Hinduism, but eventually emerged as a separate entity and split into several branches. The main branches include Mahayana Buddhism, which stresses salvation and contemplation; and Hinayana, which preserves the monastic tradition of the believers. Japanese type of Mahayana is popularly called as Zen Buddhism. The Lamaism of Tibet is a combination of Buddhism and the primitive beliefs of the region.
Archaeological objects related to Buddhist art and culture have been found in Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iran in Central Asia, and even in Turkey and Greece. There are large chunks of Buddhist population in Mongolia, Tibet and Buriyat an autonomous State in Russian federation. Buriyat alone has a population of more than 5 million Buddhists. Buriyat is situated near the Baikal lake in Russia.
In the eastern part of Asia, China, Japan and Korea have a large Buddhist population. Buddhist art, sculpture and culture flourished here in the past centuries. Vietnam, Laos and Combodia or Kampuchea are having Buddhism for over a thousand years. Their art and culture are also deeply rooted in Buddhism. Eighty per cent of the total population of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia mainly belong to Mahayana Buddhism. In the south and south-east Asia, Indonesia’s Bali island has a majority of Buddhist population and though the rest of the country has insignificant representation of Buddhist population. The Indonesian dance-drama, art, culture, sculptures and other folk forms, richly reflect the Buddhist tradition and style. Malaysia and Singapore at present have insignificant Buddhist population but in the past centuries Buddhist art and culture prevailed here quite predominantly. Thailand and Myanmar had Buddhism for centuries and they continue to have rich tradition of Buddhism even today. Sri Lanka in our neighbourhood has a large Buddhist population and Buddhist art and culture has influenced the people there in a big way. Bangladesh have a small Buddhist population scattered in the Chittagong hill tracts. Our own homeland, India has 5 million Buddhist populations and that constitutes 0.8 per cent of country’s total population.
India is proud of her heritage, historical monuments, art, sculptures, frescoes and historical sites. Buddhist heritage Object d’art archaeological findings, Stupas, Viharas and other monuments are essential components of Indian culture. We are proud of our heritages, which include Cave paintings and sculptures of Ajanta, Allora and Elephanta caves. Aurangabad cave sculptures and architectures are essentially great Buddhist contribution. Sarnath was a charming place with a serene atmosphere and the Buddha camped there for quite sometime, guiding the world’s first five Buddhists along the path of Dharma. Probably the first Vihara was established there and it flourished over time. It is believed that fifteen hundred Bhikshus lived there when Hiuen Tsang visited the place around 700 AD. Emperor Ashoka built an impressive Stupa on the spot where Lord Buddha initiated his first set of disciples.
Contacts between the peoples of Central Asia and India date back to thousands of years. Archaeologists have found great resemblance between the stone implements of north-western India and the Southern Tajikistan in Central Asia. The intensity of cultural contacts is above all proved by archaeological finds. Archaeologists have found ornamented Indian Cornelia beads in the graves of Saka nomads in the eastern Parmirs dating between the fifth ad third centuries B.C. At the site of ancient town of Dalverzintep in the south of Uzbekistan they found a hidden treasure of gold items, including beautiful pieces of Indian jewellery and gold bars with their weights written in the Kharosthi script.
From the fifth to eighth centuries AD contacts between Central Asia and India flourished largely due to the spread of Buddhism in Central Asia. One Buddhist centre was located in northern Toharistan and the other in Semirechye in Central Asia. Buddhism was professed by different groups of Central Asia population comprising all sections including townsfolk, peasantry and nobility. Archaeologist found many Buddhist temples with large libraries. Some of the books and manuscripts had been brought from India. Indian fables were well known to sogdians who richly used them as subjects for their wall paintings.
At the end of 20th century, a team of French archaeologists headed by Prof. Dupont-Sommer found Ashokan inscription, relics and object d’art in Aramin language (a Semitic group) in many parts of Syria, Iraq and even in distant countries of turkey and Greece. Naturally these Ashokan inscriptions signifies Buddhist religion and depth of art and cultural influence of Buddhism in those countries in ancient times.
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