Archaeology of Buddhism: Recent Discoveries in South Asia Book

Contents: Foreword/ G.L.W. Samarasinghe. Introduction/Sanjay Garg. Part I: Country Reports On Recent Discoveries: 1. Mes Aynak: Recent discovery of a Buddhist archaeological site in Afghanistan/Khair Muhammad Khairzada. 2. Recently Discovered Archaeological Buddhist Sites in Bangladesh/Md. Ataur Rahman. 3. Archaeology in Bhutan/Karma Tenzin. 4. Archaeologies of Buddhism and its Landscape Setting in Central India: Te Sanchi Survey Project/Julia Shaw. 5. Buddhist Heritage of Gujarat in the context of recent findings at Vadnagar/Atul Tripathi. 6. Archaeological Evidence and Evolution of Buddhism in Rajasthan/Neekee Chaturvedi. 7. Shifts in the Status of Buddhism in Haryana: some reflections/Neelima Dahiya. 8. Recent archaeological discoveries and ancient Buddhist settlements of Varanasi/Vidula Jayaswal. 9. Recently explored Buddhist monuments at Krmila Adhisthana: Its Implications/Anil Kumar. 10. Monastic Centre of Sirpur: Analysing the Stylistics of Harshagupta Vihara/Subash Khamari and Vishi Upadhyay. 11. Newly Discovered Buddhist Heritage of the Baramulla District (Kashmir)/Sonia Jasrotia. 12. Archaeological Research on Buddhism in the Maldives/Shiura Jaufar. 13. Archaelogical Excavations of a Monastery at Kaashidhoo (Maldives)/Hawwa Shaheen, Aishath Sanya, Abdul Maniu Abdul Samad and Aishath Ageedha Hassan. 14. Archaeological Test-excavations on the Maldive Islands (1983-1984)/Ismail Nasru and Ahmed Zameer. 15. Archaeology of Buddhism: Recent Discoveries within the Koliya Republican Region of Nepal/Prakash Darnal. 16. An Overview of Archaeological Research in the Gandhara Region: Pre- and Post-Independence Period/Fazal Dad Kakar. 17. Discovery of Buddhist Archaeology of Gandhara and its Development/Tauqeer Ahmad Warraich. 18. Buddhist Traditions in Rock Art of Sindh/Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro. 19. Recent Excavations of Some Significant Stupas  in Sri Lanka/Senerath Dissanayake and Nimal Perera. Part II: Revisiting Stupa. 20. The Stupa as Narrative-in-Place: Te Dialectics of Stupa  and Rock Art in the Landscapes of Central India/L. Lamminthang Simte. 21. Antiquity of the Stupas/Prathapachandran S. Part III: Buddhist Archaeology and the Society. 22. Te Archaeology of Buddhist Monastic Hospitals/Leelananda Prematilleke. 23. Surgical Instruments at the Alahana Parivena Hospital in Polonnaruwa/Arjuna Aluwihare. Part IV: Archaeology of Buddhist Monasteries. 24. Te Relationship between Buddhist monasteries and trade guilds in India and Sri Lanka/K.W.C. Tarangani. 25. Stone-paved terrace of the Anuradhapura Jetavana Stupa:  A study about the people who contributed in laying slabs/Piyatissa Senanayake. 26. Simple Cave dwellings and mansions of royal standards for the Buddhist Sangha in Ancient Sri Lanka: an epigraphical overview/Malini Dias. Part 5: Mapping Buddhist Archaeological Sites. 27. Cultural cartography: prospects and perils/Pratapanand Jha. 28. Mapping the Contours of a Buddhist World: An Online Database of Geo-referenced Buddhist Monasteries, 200-1200 CE./T. Matthew Ciolek and Stewart Gordon. 29. Recently discovered archeological sites showing evidence of Buddhism in Mullaitivu District in Northern Sri Lanka: A study using geo-informatics tools/Uditha Jinadasa, Wasana Premachandra, Kalpa Asanga, I.P.S. Nishantha, P.M.R. Priyadarshani and Tarindi Ranchagoda. Part VI: Buddhist Archaeology, Art and Architecture. 30. Art history and archaeology of Buddhism in early historic North-west India (First Century BCE-Third Century CE): recent trends and methodologies/Chandreyi Basu. 31. Te Buddhist Art and Architecture at Zar Dheri Mansehra, Hazara Zain ul Wahab. 32. Buddhist Complex of Nimogram Swat, Pakistan: Its History, Classification, Analysis and Chronology/Badshah Sardar. 33. Hitherto Unknown Buddhist Metal Images and Stupa from Mainamati, Bangladesh/Mokammal H. Bhuiyan. 34. Te Two Statues of Tara/Deshika van Haght. Part VII: Cultural Geography of the Buddhist Archaeological Sites. 35. Sacred sites, identity and embedded meanings/Diwakar Kumar Singh. 36. Sculptural style as a parameter for deriving a chronological index for Buddhist Caves in Western Maharashtra (c. First Century BC-c. Third Century AD)/Ajit Kumar. 37. Values, Valorization, and the ‘Package’: Te Conservation of Early Buddhist Heritage-Sites of Central India/Prerana Srimaal and L.L. Simte. 38. Pedigree and deviations: tracing the antiquity of relic worship among the early Buddhists with special reference to relic deposits and its interrelatedness with coetaneous Buddhist religious architecture in South Asia/D.P. Tewari and Tishyarakshita Singh. 39. Archaeological evidence of the cultural relations between ancient Sri Lanka and China/Priyantha Jayasingha. 40. Historical archaeology at the Somawathiya Sacred Area in North Central Province, Sri Lanka/R.M.M. Chandraratne and Dilan Chathuranga Ranaweera. Index.

The Archaeology of Buddhism involves the recovery and scientific investigation of the material remains of past cultures that can illuminate the periods, events and other descriptions mentioned in the religious tests. It is hoped that this volume will underscore the imperative need for institutionalizing the archaeology of Buddhism as a specialized branch of the study of our shared heritage, and will promote a better appreciation of the archaeological heritage of Buddhism that binds the SAARC nations with a common historical and cultural threads.