This is the second part of a five-part series about an expedition along the Silk Road across Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Xinjiang and Tibet. The film is mainly an Indian project (hence the name), but with production help from the UK.
In this section we follow the interests of the British filmmaker Michael Haggiag as he seeks out the Buddhist side of the expedition, looking at the transmission of Buddhism from India to China and at the great Buddhist civilisations of Central Asia.
Their endeavour at first yields little fruit in the deserts of the Taklamakan, and so the film departs from its original journey and travels to the end of the Silk Road at Xi’an, where we learn more about Xuan Zang and his legacy.
Then in India we visit Bodhgaya, which was Xuan Zang’s destination, and other Buddhist pilgrimage sites, and learn about the great University at Nalanda. We also see cultural relics housed in the National Museum at Delhi and other places.
Along the way we learn something of the uncovering of these civilisations by Sir Aurel Stein and others, and hear about the history and influence of Buddhism as it spread out of India, and its lasting influence in countries of the East.
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