These are short extracts from a series of films by the eminent Indian art historian Benoy K Behl. The 26-part series has been made for India’s national television Doordarshan, and six of the films are about Buddhism.
Behl has previously made two similar sized series for the channel, the Paintings of India, and the Sculptures of India; besides numerous other films, books and articles, some of which I have introduced on this blog before.
In the films selected here he looks mainly at the various forms of Vajrayana Buddhism which are spread all along the trans-Himalaya regions of northern India.
There are films of the sacred cham dance, Padmasambhava (the second Buddha), the monasteries built during the 2nd wave of Buddhism in the region, and regional films on Kashmir, Ladakh, Spiti and Arunachal Pradesh in the far east.
There is some fine photography, interesting interviews and an appreciative presentation by Behl himself, who clearly has a great sympathy with his subject.
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