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The Story of Buddhism by Benoy K Behl

Posted on June 17, 2011October 21, 2013 by Dharma Documentaries
A series of videos on the philosophy, art and culture of Buddhism in India by the renowned historian and photographer Benoy K Behl covering the Stupa, cave monasteries and later developments in the Himalayan Region.

Benoy.K.Behl

This is a series of nineteen videos lasting 2 – 7 minutes each on the philosophy, art and culture of Buddhism in India by the renowned art historian and photographer Benoy K Behl.

Behl has had many exhibitions of his work, and made many videos on the subject of Indian art and sculpture. He has also been featured in National Geographic magazine.

Behl presents his material in a very attractive manner and gives the context, background and underlying philosophy of the various monuments that he visits across India and Ladakh.

He himself is evidently a neo-Vedantin and he tends to interpret things from that perspective, talking about the aim of Buddhism as being the “formless” and the “divine”, which someone following early Buddhism could not agree with. It does however give him a sympathy with later, especially Tantric forms of Buddhism.

The films are very well made and quite inspiring, and he certainly has a genuine love of the paintings, sculptures and art works which he examines. The film series finishes without closure, and (besides a trailer) there is only one other film on his YouTube channel Buddhism Films and that is a song so it appears it may never have been completed.

In the series he takes in the following subjects:

  1. Path Of Compassion
  2. The First Sermon
  3. Emperor Ashoka
  4. The Stupa
  5. Bharhut Stupa
  6. Sanchi Stupas
  7. Stupas Of Andhra Pradesh
  8. The Journey Within (Overview of Cave Monasteries)
  9. Bhaja Caves (Maharasthra)
  10. Kondavane & Karle Caves (Maharasthra)
  11. Masterpieces Of Buddhist Art (Aja??a)
  12. The Intellectual Quest (Mahayana and Nalanda)
  13. The Vehicle Of The Thunderbolt (Vikramasila)
  14. Orissa: A Cradle Of Buddhism
  15. Buddhism In Kashmir
  16. Legacy Of Kashmir
  17. The Second Great Diffusion Of Buddhism (Himalayan Region)
  18. The Monasteries Of Rinchen Zangpo (Ladakh)
  19. Enchanted Alchi (Ladakh)

These are the sort of meditative films that can be returned to profitably again and again. At the end I include a trailer for his proposed film about The Second Buddha, Guru Padmasambhava. I hope he gets the opportunity to complete this work.

 

if the video does not appear on the page, please first try reloading the page, and if that doesn’t work, leave a comment so I can update the page (the comment is not published)

 

Some Stills from the Documentaries

 

Bharhut Fence and Statue
Bharhut Fence

 

Bharhut Face
Bharhut Face

 

Sanchi Stupa
Sanchi Stupa

 

Sanchi Torana
Sanchi Torana

 

Nagarjunakonda
Nagarjunakonda

 

Cave Roof
Cave Roof

 

Cave Stupa
Cave Stupa

 

Cave Front
Cave Front

 

Parinibbana at Ajanta
Parinibbana at Ajanta

 

Lord Buddha
Lord Buddha

 

Maitreya Buddha
Maitreya Buddha

 

Temple in Ladakh
Temple in Ladakh

 

Vairocana Buddha
Vairocana Buddha

 

Lord Buddha
Lord Buddha

TAGS:
Dharma, Arts, History, India, Temples

1 thought on “The Story of Buddhism by Benoy K Behl”

  1. Dr Jacob Tharakan says:
    August 23, 2012 at 8:34 pm

    Excellent sites/films

    Reply

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