Buddhist museum has seen better days

by P. Samuel Jonathan, The Hindu, Apr 25, 2017 Lack of maintenance over a period of time hits footfalls Guntur, India --  A rickety and dusty signboard guides one to the oldest State  archaeological museums. A narrow cement road leads to the open courtyard of  the Baudhasri Archaeological Museum. Crying for attention: The stone sculptures at the Baudhasree Archaeological Museum, Guntur, are in need of a facelift. Photo Credit: T VIJAYA KUMAR Several rock-cut sculptures and  stone inscriptions statues  perched on the manicured  lawnstake one back to ages and inside, a treasure trove of Buddhist artefacts  beckons the visitors.

Why I swapped investment banking for Buddhism in Bhutan

Interview by Caroline Eden, The Guardian, Apr 14, 2017

‘In Bhutan, humans are not dominant, but a small part of the whole’ says Emma Slade on the Himalayan kingdom she regards as her spiritual paradise

Timphu, Bhutan -- Bhutan is one of the few places in the world where you can experience unbroken Buddhist culture. Spirituality is embedded in daily life here. I came because I wanted to meet monks and serious retreatants, and witness first hand what it might mean to dedicate your life to spiritual practice as a Buddhist.

<< Emma Slade

Although this is the Himalayas, you don’t come to here to climb mountains. Mountains are sacred in Bhutan, as are rivers and the earth. The relationship between nature, animals and people is unique. The population is small (around 750,000) but the power of the mountains and nature is enormous. 

Indonesia Aims to Boost Spiritual Tourism at Borobudur Buddhist Temple

By Anne Wisman Buddhistdoor Global 2017-03  28  

From boldtravel.com

As Indonesia seeks to further expand spiritual tourism to the Buddhist temple of Borobudur in central Java Province, the Tidar Heritage Foundation (THF) organized a special cultural program, which officials expressed hope would help the UNESCO World Heritage Site become as relevant a religious destination as Jerusalem or Rome, and make it instrumental in promoting peace and interfaith harmony around the world.

Pakistan to organise Buddhist conference

The Nation, March 2, 2017 Rawalpindi, Pakistan -- Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) is planning to organise a Buddhist conference with an aim to promote tourism in the country.

Telangana has Buddhism roots

by C R GOWRI SHANKER, DECCAN CHRONICLE, Feb 12, 2017

Evidence found in pre-Satavahana coins dating back to 1st Century BCE.

Hyderabad, India -- Fresh evidence has been found that Buddhism flourished in Telangana state in ancient times, at remote village of Badankurthi on the banks of the Godavari near Khanapur in Nirmal district.

An aerial view of Buddhavanam, the Buddhist heritage theme park, at Nagarjunasagar. The theme park is the first of its kind in the country and depicts major events in the life of Buddha.

Asked about the findings at Badankurthi, Mr P. Nagaraju, assistant director, department of archaeology and museums, said excavation was yet to be taken up but a brick alignment threw light on the Buddhist links of the site. “A temple was constructed atop the brick alignment dating back to Satavahana and Ishkvaku times,” he said.

China plans to destroy an ancient Buddhist city to get the copper buried there

Mariam Amini | @mariamamini   CNBC Wednesday, 1 Feb 2017 

Two Chinese state-owned mining companies plan to destroy an ancient Buddhist city in Afghanistan in order to get the copper underneath it, according to a new documentary

According to the film "Saving Mes Aynak," Metallurgical Group Corp. (MCC) and Jiangxi Copper are in the initial stages of building an open-pit copper mine 25 miles southeast of Kabul. The location is home to a walled Buddhist city that dates back 5,000 years.

According to the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, the site is also home to the world's second-largest copper deposit. China is an importer of copper and a major global refiner of the industrial metal.

Sun sets on Bagan temple climbers

Tourists waiting to see the sunset from the top of Shwesandaw Pagoda in Bagan. Sunset viewing atop Bagan pagodas, which is a popular tourist drawcard, will soon be banned as part of Myanmar’s conservation drive. Photo: REUTERS

PUBLISHED:  FEBRUARY 4, 2017

BAGAN (Myanmar) — Sunrise and sunset viewings atop Bagan pagodas will soon be a thing of the past.

Early Buddhist monastery awaits govt attention

By Shehzad Khan, The Express Tribune, January 21, 2017 SWAT, Pakistan -- An ancient double-domed structure still stands tall near Mingora after having survived the cruel ravages of time, vandalism and official neglect. The 1,800-year-old Vihara is situated 25 kilometres from Mingora. PHOTO: SHEHZAD KHAN/ EXPRESS  The 1,800-year-old Vihara or early Buddhist monastery, was discovered by British archaeologist Sir Aurel Stein. It had been constructed in the second century as a place of worship by Buddhists, when Buddhism was the dominant religion of Swat. The main building has two domes, one right above the other which led to it being called the double-dome-structure.

China's hidden Buddha emerges: Long-lost stone statue appears from a lake after water level lowers by 30 feet

• By Tracy You For Mailonline PUBLISHED: 11 January 2017 
• 
  
• - The ancient Buddha was carved on a cliff face and could date to China's Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
• - Villagers of Nancheng County saw its head emerging from the surface of the water on Zuixian Lake
• - The water level had been lowered by more than 30 meet due to a hydropower gate renovation project
• - Archaeologists are carrying out an underwater detection project to find out more about the stone relic 

Forgotten by time: A long-lost Buddha appeared from under a lake in south-east China after the water level lowered 

Chinese archaeologists are trying to solve the mystery of a long-lost Buddha statue which appeared from a lake after the water level lowered dramatically.

The stone relic, found in Nancheng County in Fuzhou, could date as far as the 14th century, according to state media Xinhua News Agency. 

The holy figure was discovered at the end of last year when a few villagers saw its head emerging from the surface of the water in the lake in Fujian Province.

The Buddhist connection of Hajo in Assam

by S Balakrishnan, The Sangai Express, Jan 5, 2017

Assam, India -- Hajo, 24 kms from Guwahati in Assam, a quiet little spot, is said to have connection with Buddhism.

There are various legends associating Hajo with Buddhism. Some claim it to be place where Lord Buddha attained Nirvana and a temple there is believed to contain His relics. Another source says that it could be the last resting place of Guru Rinpoche, Buddhist Guru of Tibetan Buddhism, revered next only to Sakya Muni the Buddha.

Russia's Buddhist Republic

By Bradley Jardine, The Diplomat, January 4, 2017

Kalmykia, Russia -- The journey from Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) to Russia’s southern Republic of Kalmykia – a barren landscape the size of Scotland, wedged between Stavropol and Astrakhan on the coast of the Caspian Sea – is somewhat eerie.

In Russia’s Republic of Kalmykia, the remnants of Buddhism sit in the Soviet Union’s lingering shadow. The Diplomat profile pic

The landscape, once one of Europe’s most fertile, wouldn’t look out of place on Mars after disastrous Soviet agricultural policies earned it the dubious honor of “world’s largest man-made desert” in the 1950s.

Back in 1955, someone dropped a 600 year old plaster Buddha statue only to discover the plaster was actually covering a solid gold statue. Aug 20, 2016 The Vintage News

The golden buddha at Wat Traimit By Kushal Das – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,

Officially titled “Phra Phuttha Maha Suwana Patimakon”, The Golden Buddha  is a gold statue, with a weight of 5.5 tons (5,500 kilograms), located in the temple of Wat Traimit, Bangkok, Thailand.The origins of this statue are uncertain.

Seda Larung Wuming Tibetan Buddhist Institute

The dormitories around the Seda Larung Wuming Tibetan Buddhist Institute—the world’s largest Buddhist academy—houses up to 40,000 nuns and monks. 

The Maha Bodhi tree

Tuva: Sacred Land of Turkic Shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism

Lyudmila Klasanova Buddhistdoor Global 16.12.2016

A suburgan (stupa) on the way to Burgan Izi (the Footprint of Buddha). Image courtesy of the author

Tuva is a remote Russian republic in southern Siberia, the capital of which, Kyzyl, lies in the geographic heart of Asia. The Tuvans are a Turkic ethnic group, historically known as one of the Uriankhai nomadic, yurt-dwelling tribes. They are traditionally adherents of Tibetan Buddhism, which spread to Tuva via Mongolia, absorbing the local Turkic animistic shamanism known as Tengrism (a name that derives from the region’s eternal blue sky, or tengri). Last September, I had the good fortune to visit Kyzyl, where I participated in the international conference “Buddhism in the Third Millennium: Trends and Prospects for Development.”

Cloister Walk

Maha Bodhi Vihara in Bodhgaya

'Shukubo' inn to provide tourists with Buddhist buzz in Osaka

By SHIKI IWASAWA, Asahi Shimbun, November 7, 2016 OSAKA, Japan -- A new “shukubo” style inn to provide tourists with a Buddhist  vibe usually available only in temple compounds will open here in March 2017. An artist's rendition of a “shukubo” inn that is scheduled to open in  Osaka’s Tennoji Ward in March 2017.  (Provided by Waqoo Project) At the inn, visitors can indulge in  “shakyo,” which is copying Buddhist texts, and “zazen” relaxation, which is practiced  in a cross-legged sitting position at Zen  monasteries and is said to clear the mind  and spirit to attain a kind of enlightened  emptiness.

Destroyed by Taliban nine years ago, iconic “Jahanabad Buddha” is reborn

BY SAM LITTLEFAIR| NOVEMBER 16, 2016 Lion's Roar  Italian archaeologists have restored one of the most important pieces of Buddhist art in South Asia, nine years after it was bombed by the Taliban.

The fully restored Buddha in October, 2016. Photo courtesy of ISMEO Italian Archaeological Mission – ACT.

Nine years after its face was destroyed by Taliban militants, the famous Jahanabad Buddha has been restored. In six trips, each lasting a month, an Italian-led team of restorationists has given the Buddha its face back.

Andhra Pradesh wants to invite Dalai Lama for Buddhist ritual in Amravati

Indian Express, Nov 4, 2016

This comes as part of the serious efforts by the AP govt to promote Buddhist centres in the state, and the ancient Buddhist town of Amaravati as a major tourist destination.

Andhra Pradesh, India -- The Andhra Pradesh Government has proposed to hold ‘Kalachakra’ initiation - ‘wheel of time’ or ‘time-cycles’ rituals in Buddhism, where disciples are initiated into higher forms of meditation and rituals - in the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This comes as part of the serious efforts by the AP govt to promote Buddhist centres in the state, and the ancient Buddhist town of Amaravati as a major tourist destination.