This is the ninth part of a series of short films about Buddhism and especially its artistic and cultural contributions in India and surrounding countries by the renowned Indian cultural historian Benoy H. Behl, whose films I have featured many times on this website.
This week’s episode looks at the development of Buddhism in the region of Kashmir and in the valleys of the Himalayas. It was here that King Kaniksha held the 4th Buddhist Council and established the teachings of the Mahāyāna school of Buddhism.
And it is from Kashmir that Buddhism spread out across the Himalayas into Ladakh, Spiti and regions of western Tibet, taking with it its art forms and intellectual traditions, which particularly included the later development of the Vajrayāna.
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to see an album of stills click here