The Return of the Buddha: Ancient Symbols for a New Nation

by Himanshu Prabha Ray

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 of laws for the protection of Buddhist monuments, acquiring of land around the sites, restoration of edifices, and organization of the display and dissemination of relics. It also highlights the engagement of prominent Indian figures, such as Nehru, Gandhi, Ambedkar, and Tagore, with Buddhist themes in their writings. Stressing upon the lasting legacy of Buddhism in independent India, the author explores the use of Buddhist symbols and imagery in nation-building and the making of the constitution, as also the recent efforts to resurrect Buddhist centers of learning such as Nalanda. With rich archival sources, the book will immensely interest scholars, researchers and students of modern Indian history, culture, archaeology, Buddhist studies, and heritage management.

312 pages, Paperback

First published August 11, 2013

Reviews

[Revanth Ukkalam · Rating 4 out of 5]

There could not be perfecter title or caption. This book is truly about the return of the Buddha, a slow and rather lavish in a scene that had only memories and relics of the figure and his thought. It is also about churning the ocean of Buddhistic ideas, symbology, and history for crafting a national identity. The craft of the historian - as in the cases of all great history writers - lay in the marshaling of sources. In this story, Ambedkar and Nehru are key but so are the indifferent but brilliant father of archaeology, Alexander Cunningham, and the zealous Sinhalese monk Anagarika Dharmapala. The book talks a great deal about the reclamation and redistribution of the Buddha's relics - between civilisations: the struggle for the relics of Sanchi by Dharmapala and much later the movement of Nagarjunakonda relics to Calcutta. This indeed is in flow with, and a metaphor for what Buddhism turned into in the nineteenth century and twentieth century. The struggle for the past and distributing across the landscapes of the present; and landscapes that had audiences to them. Hence, the Dharma Chakra, the Lion Capital, and suchlike. The one chapter that the author could easily have missed but didn't and thereby gave a great treat to her audience was the section on Nandalal Bose - his upbringing in Shantiniketan, experimentation with styles, and finally the making of Buddhism into the Constitution, India's apex text.