First thought whenever I reach NYC, how will all this sustain itself? 1st thought whenever I reach India, how has all this sustained itself? More details at my latest Huffington Post article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pankaj-jain-phd/environmental-sustainability-indian-spirituality_b_3313059.html

https://www.google.com/fusiontables/embedviz?viz=GVIZ&t=TABLE&containerId=gviz_canvas&q=select+col0%2C+col2+from+1ipW1R8PPP_cOWtesNJRSNClzzgGcTjgEs-KlF9Q

India from my eyes and taste-buds, straight from my heart!

Many of my friends wonder how I can romanticize India so much. Here are my concrete suggestions and recommendations. Just few glimpses from my recent and past trips:
New Delhi, Agra - Akshardham Mandir, Humayun ka Maqbara, Taj Mahal at Agra, eating at Bukhara at ITC Maurya Hotel (one huge naan and everybody shares it without any knife, fork, or spoon, only aprons to cover your clothes!).

Chandigarh - The Rock Garden and all the museums

Almora - Visiting the Sun Temple and the Dandeshwar Temple (Jageshwar).

Badrinath and Joshimath - Visiting the temples and Shankaracharya Math. Food at Sardeswari and Auli-D respectively.

Haldwani - Food at Jayaka Restaurant, near Kathgodam train station.

Dehradun - Visiting HESCO, the temples (Lakha Mandal, Sahasradhara, Tapkeshwar, and Tapovan), Ram Rai Gurudwara, FRI, and the Doon School. Food at Tirupati Restaurant.
Gangotri - Stay at Harsil Tourist Rest House.

Shimla - The Mall Road, Tatta Pani, Kufri, Naldehra golf course, Jakhu Hanumanji, HP govt's tourist restaurants.

Jaipur - Food at the LMB Hotel (traditional Rajasthani Thaali), movie at the Rajmandir Cinema Hall (Asia's finest), visiting Amer Fort.

Jodhpur - Visiting Umaid Bhawan Palace and Mehrangarh Fort, food at Jodhpur Coffee House. Maawe ki Kachori and Pyaaz ki Kachori.

Pali - Darshan at Ranakpur Jain Temple.

Udaipur - Visiting Sajjangarh Fort, Citi Palace, Haldi Ghati, Kumbhalgarh. Food at Apni Dhani (a traditional Rajasthani resort), Sankalp (South India dishes), Nataraj (Rajasthani, Gujarati Thaali).

Chittorgarh - Visiting the fort and the museum, food at Nandan Palace.

Mount Abu - Darshan at Dilwara Jain Temple, boating at Nakki Jheel

Varanasi, Sarnath - Darshan of Kashi Vishwanath, visiting Buddhist sites at Sarnath, staying at Rashmi Guest House with a view of Ganga, food at Kashi Chaat House (Chaat originated in UP, then moved to Mumbai, Gujarat etc)

Prayag Allahabad - Visiting the Triveni Sangam, Anand Bhawan, and Chandrashekhar Azad
Park, eating at Heera Halwai (Gulab Jamun, Samosa)

Kolkata - Darshan at the Belur Math temple and Dakshineshwar Temple, visiting Shanti Niketan

Mumbai - Food at Saffron at JW Marriott Hotel near Juhu, visiting Elephanta and other Hindu, Buddhist caves http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Caves_around_Mumbai

Pune - Food at Shabri Restaurant (traditional Marathi Thaali)

Bangalore, Mysore - Food at Kamat Lokaruchi Restaurant (served on Banana Leaves), visiting Mysore Palace, Vrindavan Gardens, Chamundi Hills

Goa - The Leela Beach

Kerala - Taj tour to visit Cochin, Periyar, Thekkady, Kumarakom, Varkala, Trivendrum

Tamilnadu - Kanyakumari, Mahabalipuram, Rameswaram

Pondicherry - Auroville

Still Unfulfilled Dreams:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansarovar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarnath_Temple
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puri
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarka
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagar_Island (Ganga meets Bay of Bengal here)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamakhya
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajanta_Caves
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khajuraho
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konark
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinagar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Temple
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawapuri
Sikkim, North-Eastern States, Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Islands

My Radio Interview discussing Hinduism, Jainism and Ecology

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/paradise-parking-lot/2011/4/13/paradise-parking-lot-041311.html

Pankaj Jain, Ph.D.: 10 Hindu Environmental Teachings

Pankaj Jain, Ph.D.: 10 Hindu Environmental Teachings

Amazon.com: Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability (Ashgate New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology, and Biblical Studies) (9781409405917): Pankaj Jain: Books

Amazon.com: Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability (Ashgate New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology, and Biblical Studies) (9781409405917): Pankaj Jain: Books

My article on Washington Post (on Obama on Newsweek cover)

http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/11/the_cosmic_questions_behind_the_cosmic_dance_of_obama-raja_on_newsweeek.html

Dharma Talk, radio show on India's religious traditions and more...

On http://www.radiokarishma.com/ from Sunday 12th sep 2010 at 6 pm to 7 pm, DHARMA TALK A very positive and inspiring forum exploring India's religion and its spiritual practice towards Harmony and peace in surroundings.

This forum will be lead by Dr. Pankaj Jain Assistant professor of philisophy and religious studies and of anthropology at the university of north texas.

The archive of the first show is here:

http://www.radiokarishma.com/progrms_listing.php?id=12#

Bollywood and Beyond: Hinduism Changing the World

Bollywood and Beyond: Hinduism Changing the World

Summer Online Courses From NCSU on Sanskrit and Bollywood

Sanskrit 101 in Summer 1:
http://delta.ncsu.edu/apps/coursedetail/index.php?id=FL:295::601:SUM1:2010

Bollywood in Summer 2:
http://delta.ncsu.edu/apps/coursedetail/index.php?id=FL:295::601:SUM2:2010

AND

Sanskrit 102 in Summer 2:
http://delta.ncsu.edu/apps/coursedetail/index.php?id=FL:295::602:SUM2:2010

3 Idiots - All is not well

Watched "3 Idiots" - All is not well, more hype than substance, good acting and comedy but poor storyline, especially compared with the earlier films of the director RH and the actor AK. I just could not help compare its story (especially the second half) with really innovative stories of Munna Bhai series, Rang De Basanti, Lagaan, Taare Zameen Pe... Compared with these earlier films of RH and AK, 3 idiots is pretty old wine in new bottle, 3 idiots could not rise beyond the memories of Dil Chahta Hai kind of friendship movies...I had somewhat higher expectations from innovative artists like RH (director) and Aamir Khan. I did like the film 3 idiots, however, it is not a classic in the league of other Aamir films...

Well, just found that I am not alone in my mixed response to the film:
Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film three out of five stars and states: "Going home after watching 3 Idiots I felt like I'd just been to my favourite restaurant only to be a tad under-whelmed by their signature dish. It was a satisfying meal, don't get me wrong, but not the best meal I'd been expecting." [38] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL India too criticized the length of the film. " A 20-reeler – ‘3 idiots’ is 3 hours long! By all standards that’s too long a time, especially when the audience has shrinking tolerance level and attention span. It could have easily been shorter had the director preferred editing out some scenes," he remarks.[39] Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express gave 3 out of 5 star and criticized movie saying "The emotional truth that shone through both the ‘Munnabhai’ movies doesn’t come through strongly enough in '3 Idiots'".

Online Course on Indian Films and Religions

Ghazals on classical raga

Note: MH - Mehdi Hassan, JS, CS - Jagjit & Chitra Singh, GA - Ghulam Ali

Ahir Bhairav
Jab bhi aati hai teri yaad kabhi shaam MH
Hume koi gham MH
O Laagi re - MH

Bageshri
Aapko bhool jaaye hum (CS) mishra kaafi
Kaise kaise log – MH
Dilki baat labope MH
Ab koi baat bhi meri
Ek naye modpe MH

Bahar
Phool hi phool khil uthe - MH

Bhairav
Saamne hai jo use log JS (Bairagi)
Hosh-hasti (mangal) MH
Manzil na de chiraag na de JS

Bhairavi
Phir kisi raah guzar par shayad - JS
Meri tanhaiyon tum hi lagalo mujhko sinese - JS
Yeh dil yeh paagal dil mera (awaargi) - GA
Kabhi neki bhi uske ji men gar aa jaye hai mujhse - GA
Jo bhaje hari ko sada – Bheemsen Joshi
Main khayal hoon – MH
Yaaro kisii qaatil se kabhii pyaar na maa.Ngo MH
Yaaron Kisai Qatil Se MH
Apno ne gham diye MH

Raga Bhankar
Khuli Jo Ankh

Bhimpalashri
Zindagimen to sabhi pyar kiya karte hai - MH
Chupke chupke GA

Bhupali
Duniya kisi ke pyaar main – MH
He Govind, He Gopal, He Dayaal Lal - JS
Tum naa maano magar PU

Bhupeshwari (Jansammohini)
Abke hum bichhde MH
Dard badhkar fugaan na ho jaye CS

Bihag
Wo dil nawaz hai magar MH (with bhinna shadaj)

Bilawal
Yu na mil mujhse khafa ho jaise MH
Wo ke har ahad-e-mohabbat se mukartaa jaaye MH

Charukeshi
Aisa lagta hai zindagi tum ho – CS
Patthar ke khuda - JS
Main khayaal hoon kisi aur ka - JS
Dukh ki laharne chheda hoga - GA

Des
Chadariya jhini re jhini - AJ

Darbari
Hangama hai kyon barpa – GA
Ku ba ku fail gayi MH
Denewale mujhe maujon ki rawani de de – JS
Sunate hain ke mil jaati hai - JS
Jay Radha madhav Jai kunjbihari - JS

Gara
Raghupati raghav raja ram - Bhajan
Thumak chalat ram chandra – Bhajan by Lata
Patta patta boota – MH

Goud
Bhooli bisri chand ummeeden (MH) with Saarang

Jansammohini
Chirag-e-toor jalao (MH)
Jheel main chaand (PU)

Jangla Bhairavi
Khuda kare ki mohabbat – MH

Jayjayvanti
Raghupati raghav raja rama – Bhajan
Dost bankar bhi nahin saath nibhanevala - GA

Jhinjhoti
Sata sata ke hame – MH
Gulon main rang bhare - MH
Tanha tanha mat sochakar - MH

Jog
ye mojazaa bhii muhabbat kabhii dikhaaye mujhe MH

Jogiya
Gazab kiya tere vaadepe – MH

Kaafi
Pyar bhare do MH
chamte chand ko – aawargi GA (with Asavari)
Rafta rafta MH
Kabhi guncha kabhi shola kabhi shabnam JS
Ye haqeeqat hai – CS

Kalawati
Dil men aur to kya rakha hai - GA

Khamaz
Janakinath sahay – Bhajan by Pulaskar
Mohabbat karnewale kam na hoge MH
fiqr hii Thaharii to dil ko fikr-e-Khubaa.N kyo.n na ho MH
Yu zindagi ki raah main MH

Kirwani
Shola tha jal bujha hun – MH
Para para hua pairahan-e-jaan – GA

Lalit
Koi paas aya savere - JS

Malkauns
Kya bhala mujhko parakhne ka nateeza nikla MH
E roshniyo ke shahar bata MH
Mana ke musht-e-khak se badhkar nahin hun main - JS

Marwa
Garmiye Hasrat-e-Nakamse (with Sohni/puriya)

Majh Khamaz
Dil main ek lahar GA

Mand
Naqsh-e-khayal MH
Hum hee main thee na koi baat - maand

Miya Ki Malhar
Ek bas tu hi nahi - MH

Mishra Goud
Aaye kuchh abra kuchh sharab – MH

Pahadi
Dilmen ek lahar si uthi hai abhi - GA
Payoji maine rama ratan dhan payo – Bhajan by Lata
Chalo man – Bhajan by Pulaskar
Baat karni mujhe mushkil – MH
Jawanike heele haya JS
Kaun kahata hai ki mohabbat JS
Suna tha ki wo aayenge anjuman main JS
Badal jayega CS
Jo thake thake se hausle MH

Patdeep
Roshan jamaal e yaar MH

Pilu
Aadmi aadmi ko kya JS
Kaise chhupaau raaz-e-gham MH
Guncha-e-shauq lagaa hai khilne MH

Puriya
Ya devi sarva bhuteshu – Pt Jasraj
Tere khamosh hothose – PU
Ye haqeeqat hai – CS
garmii-e-hasarat-e-naakaam se jal jaate hai.n MH (with marwa sohni)

Rageshri
Ye dhua kaha se – MH
Gulshan gulshan shola – MH
Mujhe tum nazar se - MH

Sarang
Nawajish karam shukriya – MH
Ye kaisi mohabbat – JS

Shivranjani
Jo bhi dukh yaad na tha, yaad aya GA
Teri mehfil se MH

Todi
Jagmen sunder hai do naam, chahe krishna kaho ya ram – AJ
Milkar juda huye JS (Gujari)

Yaman
Ranjish hi sahi, dil hi dukhane ke liye aa - MH
Shola hun bhadakne ki gujarish nahin karta - JS
Tum nahin, gam nahin, sharab nahin – JS
Jal bhi chuke parvane MH

Tweeting the World\'s Longest Poem

Tweeting the World\'s Longest Poem

America is becoming Hindu, says Newsweek story

http://www.newsweek.com/id/212155

"America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that's the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu—or Muslim, or Jewish, or Wiccan—nation, either. A million-plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity."


--

Indians are world's 'greenest' according to National Geographic Society and GlobeScan

Indians are world's 'greenest' according to National Geographic Society and GlobeScan

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/File-Indians-are-worlds-greenest-Survey/articleshow/4527041.cms

Programs in Ethnomusicology, Indian Film Studies, Comparative Religions, and Jainism

I have created Wiki pages (which are editable by anyone) of lists of graduate programs in Indian ethnomusicology, Comparative Religions of India, Indian Film Studies and Jainism Studies.

Grad programs in ethnomusicology of South Asia:
         http://indianethnomusicology.wikia.com/

Study of comparative religions in India:
         http://compreligionsindia.wikia.com/

Films Studies in India:
         http://filmstudiesindia.wikia.com/

Study of Jainism in North America and Europe:
         http://jainism.wikia.com/wiki/

Chindia (China and India combined) dominated World Trade until 1700 by more than half!

वैदिक मंत्र

(notation A - X.Y.Z :
Mantra number A is from Rig Veda Mandala X, Sukta Y, Mantra Z)
1 - 2.23.1
2 - 1.27.13
3 - 1.112.3
4 - 1.147.1
5 - 1.164.50
6 - 1.167.4
7 - 1.169.5
8 - 1.185.9
9 - 1.186.8
10 - 2.28.3
11 - 3.6.7
12 - 3.49.1
13 - 3.56.8
14 - 4.34.11
15 - 4.50.9
16 - 4.55.1
17 - 5.31.8
18 - 6.7.1
19 - 6.7.2
20 - 6.50.11
21 - 6.52.15
22 - 8.63.12
23 - 9.109.1-2
24 - 10.51.8
25 - 10.55.7
26 - 10.85.23
27 - 10.85.36
28 - 10.95.7
29 - 10.109.5
30 - 10.110.11
31 - 10.112.6
32 - 1.99.1
33 - 7.59.2
34 - 1.164.41
35 - 10.71.2
36 - 6.61.4
Thus, e.g., 33 - "Om trayambakam yajamahe sugandhim pushtivardham..."
is Rig Veda Mandala 7, Sukta 59, Mantra 2.

भारत और दक्षिण एशिया

Subject: Indian Influence in Ancient South-East Asia
A Cultural History of India
Edited by A.L. Basham
Oxford University Press, Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras 1975
Chapter XXXI: Indian Influence in Ancient South-East Asia
by ALASTAIR LAMB
BEGIN QUOTES:
Pages 442-443
By the opening of the Christian era the civilization of India had begun to
spread across the Bay of Bengal into both island and mainland South-East
Asia; and by the fifth century AD. Indianized states, that is to say states
organized along the traditional lines of Indian political theory and
following the Buddhist or Hindu religions, had established themselves in
many regions of Burma, Thailand, Indo-China, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Some
of these states were in time to grow into great empires dominating the zone
between metropolitan India and the Chinese southern border, which has
sometimes been described as' Further India' or' Greater India '. Once rooted
in South- East Asian soil, Indian civilization evolved in part through the
action of forces Of South-East Asian origin, and in part through the
influence of cultural and political changes in the Indian subcontinent. Many
scholars have described the eastward spread of Indian civilization in terms
of a series of 'waves'; and there are good reasons for considering that such
'waves' are still breaking on South-East Asian beaches today.
The cultures of modern South-East Asia all provide evidence of a long period
of contact with India. Many South-East Asian languages (Malay and Javanese
are good examples) contain an Important proportion of words of Sanskrit or
Dravidian origin. Some of these languages, like Thai, are still written in
scripts which are clearly derived from Indian models South-East Asian
concepts of kingship and authority, even in regions which are now dominated
by Islam, owe much to ancient Hindu political theory. The Thai monarchy,
though following Hinayana Buddhism of the Sinhalese type, still requires the
presence of Court brahmans (who by now have become Thai in all but name) for
the proper performance of its ceremonials. The traditional dance and
shadow-puppet theatres in many South-East Asian regions, in Thailand,
Malaya, and Java for example, continue to fascinate their audiences with the
adventures of Rama and Sita and Hanuman. In Bali an elaborate indigenous
Hindu culture still flourishes, and preserves intact many Indian ideas and
practices which have long passed out of use in the subcontinent; and here we
haven fossil record, as it were, which can be exploited to throw much light
on the early cultural history of India itself. The fact of Indian impact on
South-East Asian civilization, past and present, is, indeed, in no doubt.
Much controversy, however, has arisen over the precise way in which this
impact took place.
Page 443
The term South-East Asia, moreover, covers a very extensive area within
which there exists a considerable range of environments and ethnic types,
and throughout which there cannot possibly have been a uniform operation of
any one of the several likely processes of Indianization. Some populations,
like the Khmers, the Chams, and the Javanese, became heavily Indianized.
Others, like some of the tribes in Sulawesi (the Celebes), were indeed
subject to Indian influence, but lightly and, most probably, indirectly. Yet
others, like the Negritos of the Malay Peninsula, cannot be said to have
been Indianized at all.
Page 444
...It seems most probable, on the present available information, that
Indianization started in earnest in the period from the first century B.C.
to the first century A.D. There can be no doubt, at all events, that by the
fifth century A.D. Indian culture was widely known in South-East Asia, and
that Indianized states had appeared not only in regions with relatively
large populations practicing a settled agriculture, like Cambodia, Vietnam,
and Java, but also in remote and sparsely peopled districts like Kalimantan
(Indonesian Borneo) and Sulawesi (Celebes).
...Indian colonization of South-East Asia, on the pattern of European
colonization of North America or Australia and New Zealand, is no longer
regarded by the majority of scholars as a major factor in the initiation of
the Indianization process, which now tends to be interpreted in the light of
an expansion of international maritime trade.
Page 445
...It is certain however, that once the economic importance of the routes
from India eastwards through South-East Asia was established, they were
extensively exploited by Indians who, unlike the Westerners of this time,
left a lasting impression upon the South-East Asian cultural landscape.

We possess very little direct evidence as to the manner in which the
Indians, once they began to trade and travel widely in South-East Asia,
actually proceeded to Indianize the indigenous peoples with whom they came
into contact. It is clear, however, that more than one mechanism must have
operated and that there can have been no question of a single pattern of
events holding good for the whole region.
Pages 445-446
Such communities would no doubt provide an example for the techniques of
urban life along Indian lines and the practical advantages of the major
Indian religions, which could be copied by neighbouring indigenous
populations.
Another mechanism can perhaps be detected in the deliberate borrowing by
indigenous South-East Asian rulers of the techniques of Indian political
organization, of which they learned either from merchants visiting their
territories or from themselves visiting the early entrepôts. More recently
we have examples of this kind of mechanism at work in Asia in the efforts
towards self-Westernization made by Japan and Thailand in the latter part of
the nineteenth century. Here there was no blind swallowing in its entirety
of an alien culture: rather, specific aspects of Western civilization,
mainly technical and political, were married into the indigenous way of
life. The finer points of art, philosophy, and literature tended to be
ignored, Since ancient Indian political life was so inextricably bound, up
with the religious cosmology, one would expect that self-lndianization, as
it were, would result in the establishment, at an official level, of an
Indian-type religion in the charge of a brahmanical priestly caste, whose
role would be comparable to that filled today by Western advisers in an
under-developed nation.
Page 446
...The Chinese texts, confirmed by epigraphy, describe the founding of the
Indianized kingdom of Funan in Indo-China in terms which could well suggest
the career of the Indian equivalent of Brooke. Kaundinya, so the story goes,
guided by a dream, set out in search of a kingdom which he won by kidnapping
and marrying Willow Leaf, Queen of Funan, This tale was later phrased in
more orthodox Indian terms, with the brahman Kaundinya marrying Nagi Soma,
the daughter of the King of the Nagas, or serpent spirits, a legend
strikingly similar to that accounting for the origin of the Pallava Dynasty
of south India. The Khmers, whose empire was a successor state to Funan,
later adopted this story as their official myth, and the Naga motif came to
dominate their decorative art.
Pages 446-447
...Almost ubiquitous in South- East Asia, for example, is a category of
Buddha image showing very clear signs of Gupta or Amaravati influence; and
some examples of this can, on the established principles of Indian
iconography, be dated to very early in the Christian era. Specimens have
been found in Indo-China, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the
Philippines. The earliest South-East Asian inscriptions, some of which may
perhaps date to the fourth century A.D., show the use of a script generally
considered to be of a south Indian type, with little if any sign of
evolution in a South-East Asian environment. All this rather suggests the
deliberate acquisition by the first South-East Asian Indianized rulers of
the signs and symbols of Indian political organization, the language and
script of the brahmans, and the cult objects of the major Indian religions.
Page 447
...The cult of the Devaraja, the God King, though certainly expressed in
Indian terminology, developed, so many scholars believe, into a distinctive
corpus of political and cosmological ideas which lies behind the
proliferation of Khmer temples built in the form of mystic mountains and the
Javanese chandis which were not only places of worship but also royal tombs
and mechanisms, as it were, designed to link the dynasty on earth with the
spirit world. No more extreme examples of this cult, with its identification
of ruler with god,' be it Siva, Vishnu, or Buddha, can be found than in
Angkor Thom, the city of the late twelfth- and early thirteenth-century
Khmer ruler Jayavarman VII. Here, on the gateway towers of the city, and on
its central monument, the Bayon, the face of the king himself becomes the
dominant architectural motif. From all four sides of every tower of the
Bayon, Jayavarman VII looks out over his capital, his lips and eyes
suggesting an enigmatic and slightly malevolent smile. This is something
which the Roman emperors, who deified themselves in their own lifetimes,
would have understood, but which would have been beyond the comprehension of
the great Hindu and Buddhist dynasties of India. The Devaraja cult of the
Khmers, Chams, and Javanese Indianized kings has survived to the present day
in Thailand, where it explains many features of the modern Thai monarchy.
_________
Page 449
...Indianization, once initiated, did not come abruptly to a halt. Contacts
between India and South-East Asia along the trade-routes, once established,
persisted; and cultural changes in the Indian subcontinent had their effect
across the Bay of Bengal. During the late Gupta and the Pala-Sena periods
many South-East Asian regions were greatly influenced by developments in
Indian religious ideas, especially in the Buddhist field. The pilgrimages to
Indian religious centres like Nalanda, of which devout Chinese like Hsuan
Tsang and I Ching have left celebrated accounts, were also made by
South-East Asians, sometimes with much encouragement on the part of their
rulers. The Indonesian King Baladeva, for example, so an inscription
records, made in A.D. 860 a benefaction to the Buddhist university at
Nalanda. It should cause no surprise, therefore, to find a strong late Gupta
and Pala influence in many manifestations of Mahayana Buddhism in South-East
Asia. The art of the Sailendra Dynasty in Java, the builders during the
eighth and ninth centuries A.D. of Borobodur and many of the other
architectural glories of central Java, shows abundant evidence of this
particular influence, as also does the art of Srivijaya, a state which
dominated the Malayan and Sumatran shores of the Malacca Straits from the
seventh to the thirteenth centuries A.D.; and Pala influence can also be
seen to a varying degree in the major styles of the South-East Asian
mainland. Thus the great temple at Paharpur in Bengal, dating perhaps from
the seventh or eighth century, of which excavation has revealed the
ground-plan, may well be representative of an inspiration shared in common
by such widely separated monuments as Borobodur and Prambanan in central
Java, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and the Ananda temple at Pagan in Burma.
Pages 449-450
Inscriptions show that there was also a very close contact between many
South-East Asian regions and the Tamil kingdoms, particularly during the
period of the Chola Dynasty (ninth to thirteenth centuries A.D.). There were
Tamil trading settlements at this time at Baros in western Sumatra and at
Takuapa on the Kra Isthmus. Indonesian rulers endowed shrines in Chola
territory in India. This connection between both sides of the Bay of Bengal
was so important that, in the eleventh century A.D., it induced the Chola
kings Rajaraja and Rajendra to undertake demonstrations of their sea power
in the direction of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, with the probable
objective of securing a commercial monopoly rather than the acquisition of
territory. It is not difficult, therefore, to find explanations for the
presence of a Chola element in many South-East Asian arts and architectures.
Page 450
The Thais, once established in the Menam basin, underwent a process of
Indianization which, because it is well documented, provides an invaluable
example of the mechanics of cultural fusion in South-East Asia. On the one
hand, Thai rulers set out deliberately to Indianize themselves. They sent,
for example, agents to Bengal, at that time suffering from the disruption of
Islamic conquest, to bring back models upon which to base an official
sculpture and architecture. Hence Thai architects began to build replicas of
the Bodh-Gaya stupa (Wat Chet Yot in Chiengmai is a good example) and Thai
artists made Buddha images according to the Pala canon as they saw it. On
the other hand, the Thais absorbed much from their Khmer and Mon subjects;
and the influence of Angkor and Dvaravati is obvious in Thai art. Thai kings
embraced the Indian religions, and they based their principles of government
upon Hindu practice as it had been understood by their Khmer predecessors.
Hence the Khmer version of the Devaraja cult was absorbed by the Thai
monarchy; and traces of it survive to this day.
Pages 450-451
The thirteenth century, which saw the conquests of the Thais, also witnessed
two major developments in South-East Asian religious life, both, if
sometimes rather indirectly, the product of Indian influence. Theravada
Buddhism established itself as the dominant form of religious expression on
the South-East Asian mainland; and the saffron-robed monk became ubiquitous
in Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. This movement appears to have
originated in Ceylon and is unconnected, except in the most remote way,
with the Buddhism which came to South-East Asia in the first centuries of
Indianization.
Page 451
...But it seems that the actual conversion of South-East Asian populations
to Islam on a significant scale did not begin until the thirteenth century,
when Indian Muslim merchants from Gujarat or Bengal brought the faith with
them as their ancestors had brought the Hindu and Buddhist religions....
The conversion to Islam of much of island South-East Asia was the last phase
of Indianization which we can treat in the same terms as our discussion of
the earlier establishment of Hindu and Buddhist influence; for in the
sixteenth century the South-East Asian cultural scene was greatly
complicated both by the coming of the European empire-builders and by the
great increase in Chinese settlement. Indian influence, of course, has
continued up to the present; but it has done so in competition with the
influences of Europe and China, to which, in recent years, have been added
those of America and Japan. The Islamic conversion in South-East Asia took
place along lines very similar to those which marked the coming of Buddhism
and Hinduism in earlier-years. It was established by influence and example,
not by force; and there is no South-East Asian parallel to the Islamic
Turkish invasions of India. Once established on South-East Asian soil, Islam
began to acquire peculiarly South-East Asian features, the product of its
intermarriage with earlier cultural strata, both Indianized and pre-Indian.
Thus women in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines have not, as they
have in India and the Middle East, taken to veiling their faces in public.
The first South-East Asian mosques were not replicas of Indo-Saracenic art:
they were based on the forms of existing Buddhist and Hindu temple
architecture; and the dome is a late, and rather exotic, development in this
region. Many old pre-Islamic customs and ceremonies survived. Islamic
peasants continued to be entertained by stories from the Ramayana. Much of
Malay and Indonesian court ceremonial, marriage customs, and the like can be
traced without difficulty back to the days of Buddhist and Hindu dominance.
Page 452
The Indianization of South-East Asia was a slow and gradual process. With a
few exceptions like the Chola attacks of the eleventh century, it was
carried out by peaceful means; and in consequence, as it developed, it did
not build up a resistance to its further progress. Though its initial impact
was probably at the level of the ruling classes, Indian influences had no
difficulty in merging with indigenous cultures to create a series of
distinct South-East Asian amalgams in which it is now virtually impossible
to disentangle all the Indian from
the non-Indian. The result may not have simplified the task of the cultural
historian; but it has without doubt guaranteed the Indian heritage a place
in South-East Asian civilization from which it cannot possibly be dislodged
without the total destruction of that civilization.
Pages 452-453
Secondly, there are new theories about the reasons for the coming of Indian
influence to ancient South-East Asia and the way this influence spread.
These show a clear tendency away from a predominantly commercial or economic
interpretation of the process of Indianization (i.e. traders seen as the
main agents of the spread of Indian influence), let alone one based on the
assumption of large-scale migrations, abandoned long ago. Emphasis is now
put on brahmans or missionaries, or even on the initiative of South-East
Asians themselves, a development foreshadowed by Professor Lamb's adoption
of the term 'self-Indianization' to describe one possible mechanism of the
process. The frequent use of the words 'Sanskritization' or 'brahmanization'
in recent publications underlines this tendency. Archaeological evidence now
available also points to a slightly earlier date than that suggested by
Professor Lamb for the effective results of this Sanskritization in some
parts of South-East Asia, if not for its beginning.
Page 453
...As regards the extension of Sanskritization, which until recently was
thought not to have reached the eastern parts of South-East Asia, it has now
been shown that even the Philippines got a fair share of it, although it did
not result there in the establishment of lndian-inspired kingdoms as in the
more western and southern parts of the region.