ABOUT THE BOOK

In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in the Buddhist tradition of Asia which has percolated into the realm of Buddhist studies in India. There is a gamut of ideas that focuses on the philosophical content of Buddhism and also on Buddhist texts. But Buddhism as a component of the cultural milieu and as a living tradition of Northeast India has not been integrated into mainstream Buddhist Studies in India. However, there seems to be considerable interest in the field outside—in the wide spectrum of Buddhist linkages often spread over maritime waters in the Bay of Bengal region.

This volume On the trail of Buddhism in Asia: Reflections on Tradition and Practice seeks to integrate such ideas about Buddhism`s aesthetic appeal, its regional interpenetrations and diverse traditions. The purpose here is not only to outline Buddhist presence in the Himalayan space and in the maritime belt of South East Asia but also to examine the relevance of Buddhism in the era of globalisation reflecting concerns about habitat, environment and heritage.

ABOUT Author

Suchandana Chatterjee is Fellow, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (an autonomous Institute of the Ministry of Culture, GOI), Kolkata, India. Her research interests include shared spaces and connected histories of Eurasia, marginalized identities of Central Asia, images of Eurasia`s transition, the Northern reach of Buddhism etc. Her ongoing project in the Institute is on Post-Soviet images of Kazakhstan: a cosmopolitan space with borderland anxieties. Her forthcoming book Reconsidering Inner Asia: shared spaces, shifting identities.(Delhi: Manohar Publishers) is based on her recently completed project that focuses on Inner Asia`s spatiality and resurgent identities. Her publications include The Steppe in History-Essays on a Eurasian Fringe (New Delhi: Manohar, 2010), Politics and Society in Tajikistan in the aftermath of the Civil War (Greenwood Press and Hope India Publications, 2002), Mind and Vision: Perceptions of reform in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (Bookwell, 2006) and several research papers on Central Asia and Asiatic Russia, India and Central Asia in research journals and edited books. She has edited the Institute`s journal Asia Annual 2006 and has co-edited the Institute`s seminar publications on Eurasia and Buddhism in Asia. A student of history, she was awarded doctorate degree by Department of Arts (History), Calcutta University in 2002 for her thesis Emirate of Bukhara, 1868-1924: Encounters with transition. 

Her e-mail is suchandanachatterjee@hotmail.com.

Susmita Bhattacharya is a Fellow of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), Kolkata with a background of International Relations, Jadavpur University. After teaching Political Science at different colleges of Kolkata for seven years she joined the Asiatic Society as Research Associate in Russian Studies. In 1998, she joined MAKAIAS as Research Officer and being proficient in Russian language has been serving the Institute as Language (Russian) Resource person. She has translated over 140 articles, several manuscripts and a number of books from Russian to English for the Institute`s publications, along with imparting language training to the Fellows in related fields and assisting in interpreting Russian materials. She has edited a number of Institute`s volumes on Eurasia, West Asia and Buddhism in Asia. As a Fellow, currently she is engaged with the project, The Revival of Buddhism in Russia: the Role and Place of India in this Process. Her area of interest and specialisation includes Eurasia in general, Russia in particular, from the political, cultural, social and international relations points of view.

Her e-mail is susmitabhattacharya07@gmail.com