Dharma Documentaries

Dharma. Culture. Ecology.

Menu
  • Dharma
  • Culture
  • Ecology
  • Archives
  • About
Menu

Eternal Ancestors – Buddha’s Relics

Posted on July 15, 2012October 22, 2013 by Dharma Documentaries
Lecture at the Metropolitan Museum in New York about the importance of reliquaries in Buddhist culture

Reliquaries-Thumb

This lecture was part of the Eternal Ancestors series given at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City in 2008.

Most of the talks in the series – and the focus of the exhibition accompanying it – was on African art.

But in this lecture Denise Patry Leidy discussed the role of the reliquary in Buddhist culture.

The reliquary idea began when the remains of the historical Buddha were placed in eight different stupas in the Middle Country.

Later King Asoka dug these up, and redivided the remains and placed them inside the supposed 84,000 temples he founded throughout his empire.

Not only bodily relics, but other types of relics were also important, like articles which had a close association with the person being commemorated.

From the beginning the idea of preserving the bodily relics of other saints was also practiced, which is continued up to the present day.

In a short span Leidy does a good job of explaining some of the scope and importance the reliquary has played in Buddhist culture.

The video recording is, unfortunately in lo-fi, but for the information the lecture contains it is worth while putting up with it.

 

if this video is no longer available please leave a comment so I can update the page
(the comment is not published)

 

Reliquaries

 

TAGS:
Culture, Dharma, Academic, Arts, Buddha, China, India, Lectures, Temples

2 thoughts on “Eternal Ancestors – Buddha’s Relics”

  1. Visakha Kawasaki says:
    July 15, 2012 at 4:28 pm

    Do you have a transcript? That would be helpful — we’d like to use some of this material with a class.

    Thanks as always.

    In the Dhamma,
    Visakha and Ken

    Reply
  2. Anandajoti says:
    July 15, 2012 at 4:58 pm

    Dear Visakha, I am sorry I don’t have a transcript, and being released by an academic institution it would probably be copyrighted anyway.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Subscriptions

Follow our Facebook Page Follow our Tweets Subscribe by Email Subscribe to our Feed

Shortlink and QR

https://dharma-documentaries.net/b/1s3

Donations

This site has taken 10 years to build, and has 800+ documentaries on it. If you would like to support the expenses involved, you can do so here. Even small amounts help.

choose amount:  


Donations can also be sent in Litecoin to the following address: LQZ9fVHF3wL6ihwEUcRFiCpcD7f2dfd3Kp

Copyright

If anyone has any copyright claims please contact me at dharmadocus@gmail.com and the posts and films will be immediately removed.

Top Ten Tags

Theravada
Mahayana
Vajrayana

India
Silk Road
China
Tibet

Arts
Lectures
Rights

Popular Posts

  • The Freedom of being a Buddhist Nun
  • Bright and Shining Mind in a Disabled Body
  • The Leshan Giant Buddha Statue
  • The Silk Road Series 7/16: Khotan-Oasis of Silk and Jade
  • David Eckel: Buddhism 3-4 of 24
  • The Tibetan Oracles
  • The Mountain Yogi, Lama Govinda
  • Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: The Untold Truth
  • Indian Roots of Tibetan Buddhism
  • The Journey of Xuanzang: An Introduction

Recent Posts

  • The Living Universe
  • The Nomadic Night
  • Orphans of Tibet
  • To Play Kutiyattam with the Master
  • The Young Girl and the Monkey
  • The Celestial Dance of Bhutan
  • Kabuki, the Path of the Flowers
  • A Young Shaman’s Quest Across Mongolia
  • Himalaya, Land of Women
  • Urgan, Child of the Himalaya

Random Posts

  • The Towering Buddhist Pagoda of Yongning
  • Fire in the Land of Snow
  • Chinese Treasures in Japan: Finding Muxi
  • Cambodia, the Water Kingdom
  • China’s Forgotten Emperor, Wu Zetian
  • Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World
  • Kyoto, Japan (Expoza)
  • Thera Stories, Spiritual Journeys of Monks
  • Ancient India From the Indus Valley Civilisation to Mughal Imperialism
  • Building Without Nails, the Genius of Japanese Carpentry

Related Posts

  • Introduction to Buddhist Art
  • Envisioning the Buddha
  • Art of Faith, Buddhism
  • A Revolution in Painting in the Yuan Dynasty
  • Beliefs Made Visible - Hindu and Buddhist Art in South Asia
  • Reconstructing the Ruined Buddhist Complex of Banteay Chhmar
  • Divine Dwellings: The Architectural Context of Khmer Sculpture
  • The Story of Buddhism 07, The Intellectual Quest
  • The Story of Buddhism 06, Masterpieces of Buddhist Art
  • Great Minds 17, Xuanzang and Chinese Buddhism
© 2021 Dharma Documentaries | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme