Buddhism arrived in Southeast Asia in the early part of the first mellinnum CE. It is the dominant religion in Mainland Southeast Asia
To cite this page: Tan, Noel Hidalgo (2021, Updated 08 October 2022) Archaeology of Buddhism in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian Archaeology. Available at: https://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/buddhism/
If you found this page useful, consider showing support by Buying me a Coffee.
Overview
Buddhism is a system of beliefs and traditions originating from the Buddha, Siddharta Gautama who lived around the 4th or 5th centuries BCE in what is todayIndia or Nepal. There are two main schools of Buddhism, Mahayana (the Great Vehicle) and Theravada (the School of the Elders). The latter is the dominant form of Buddhism in Cambodia, Laos, Thailandand Myanmar, while the former is mainly practiced in Vietnam and by the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia. While modern Mahayana Buddhism has its origins from China, it had come into the region earlier, around the 5-11th centuries via India. As the main religion of essentially Mainland Southeast Asia today, Buddhism is an important cultural marker and archaeological remnants such as temple architecture and sculpture are common.
Recommended Books
These are books relevant to the archaeology of Buddhism in Southeast Asia, with a focus on archaeology. Some of these links are affiliate links and I may receive a commission if you click on them and make a purchase. For other sources of reliable academic information, you should also check out the books page for latest releases and the occassional free book, as well as the journals page for the latest scientific research.
Last update on 2023-03-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Popular Posts
These links are dynamically generated and are based on the most viewed posts in the last 30 days.
Negritos or Malays: Who are the original inhabitants of the Philippines?
An opinion piece by Vincent Cabreza summarising a paper presented by Lawence Reid from the University of Hawaii about the...
Colorado scholar Emma Bunker helped a prolific art smuggler flourish
via Denver Post, 01 December 2022: Last week the Denver Post ran a series of stories by Sam Tabachnik about...
Denver Art Museum removes Emma Bunker’s name, returns $185,000
via Denver Post, 09 March 2023: The fallout from Douglas Latchford and his close associate Emma Bunker continues, with the...
Online Postgraduate Certificate in Asian Art Scholarship
Scholarship opportunity at SOAS for an online course with a Certificate in Asian Art. The deadline for applications is 26...
Tourists flock to Nong Khai as sacred stupa emerges from Mekong River
via The Nation, 13 March 2023: A 700-year-old stupa has emerged from the Mekong River in Nong Khai province due...
Tracing back Malaysia’s stone-age man in Lenggong
Liz Price's feature in the Brunei Times about the archaeolgical finds in Lenggong, Perak, including the Perak Man, Kota Tampan...
Buddhist Archaeology in the News
The news reports indexed below usually link to external sites that were active at the time of posting; sometimes websites may be temporarily down or may have reorganised their underlying architecture or have even closed down – in these cases the links may not be available. Most of the news articles archived are in English; this is largely because I do not have a working competency in Bahasa, although when I am made aware of stories in this and other languages I try to index them.
Leave a Reply