Buddhism and Buddhist Studies: From History to Contemporaneity

Abstract

“the great thinkers, great mystics, great sages [...], by their uncommon intellect, and supreme wisdom made a great impression upon the thought of people; the sculptors and artists and Buddhism hewed great cave temples and stupas which are to this day among the great achievement of humankind” (Sankrityayan, 1973: 328-349 apud Ahir, 2013: ix). In its long history, Buddhism became the national religion of India during King Aśoka, reaching its zenith during the reign of Harsavardhana (606-647 C.E.), the last “Buddhist Emperor”. Different researchers have defined the historical phases of the evolution of Buddhism in India as: consolidation, systematic propagation, becoming a popular religion, struggling and maintaining, massacre and regression, followed by a period of apparently disappearance (see Naik, 2006). A renaissance and revival of Buddhism is agreed to have started in India as early as 1891, with the intention of restoring the sacred Buddhist shrines, as well as with the discovery of numerous relics on the Indian territory, or the return of the relics kept abroad. After 1947, “the Buddhist revival movement came to be associated with nationalism and ancient Indian culture” (ibid: 9). In 1956, to mark 2500 years of Buddhist Era commenced on the day of the Mahaparinirvana celebrated worldwide, in India a Buddha Jayanti Celebrations Committee has been appointed; the same year, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar adhered to Buddhism, along with half a million followers. While a significant increase in the Buddhist population in India took place since then, Buddhism in India is still far from having the power of a living religion (Ahir, 2011: 201). Starting with 1950, India Archeological Survey also started systematic archeological works and restoration of Buddhist heritage, the Buddhist sites being nowadays among the most important travel and tourism destinations, nationally and internationally. India is now represented as “The Land of Buddha”, in the Ministry of Tourism promotion campaigns. In the context of all Indian religions, Buddhism occupies a unique place, firstly for addressing and accepting people of all strata of society, but also populations like the Indo-Greeks and Indo-Scythians, who settled in India at the time, and secondly, for its https://doi.org/10.2478/irsr-2019-0001 Received: June 12, 2019; Accepted: June 14, 2019