Cultural And Civilisational Links Between India And Southeast Asia

The books presents the study undertaken by the ASEAN-India Centre (AIC) at Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) on India’s cultural links with Southeast Asia, with particular reference to historical and contemporary dimensions. The book traces ancient trade and maritime links, Chola Empire and Southeast Asia, religious exchanges (the Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic heritage), language, scripts and folklore, performing arts, painting and sculpture, architecture, role of the Indian Diaspora, contemporary cultural interaction, etc.

The Volume 'India'S Interaction With Southeast Asia' Edited By Professor G.C. Pande Provides A Much Needed Synthesis Of New Research On Ancient Indian Contact With Southeast Asia. This Volume Situates Indo-Southeast Asian Interchange Within A Global Civilizational Perspective, In Which The Old Notion Of The Indic 'Motherland' Sustaining The Southeast Asian Civilization Is Discarded In Favour Of A 'Reciprocal' Model That Explores The Uniqueness Of The Lands On Both Sides Of The Bay Of Bengal. The Volume Gives Equitable Academic Space To Both Dimensions Of Indo-Southeast Asian Contacts: The Indic Influences That Shaped Southeast Asian Cultures As Well As The Native Genius Of Southeast Asians That Refined Indian Art And Architecture Into The Wonders Of Angkor Vat And Borobudur. The Contributions To The Volume Come From Art Historians, Archaeologists, Linguists, Historians And Philosophers Well Known In Their Field. The Volume Is Relevant For The Specialist As Well As The Layman.

This book takes stock of the results of some two decades of intensive archaeological research carried out on both sides of the Bay of Bengal, in combination with renewed approaches to textual sources and to art history. To improve our understanding of the trans-cultural process commonly referred to as Indianisation, it brings together specialists of both India and Southeast Asia, in a fertile inter-disciplinary confrontation. Most of the essays reappraise the millennium-long historiographic no-man's land during which exchanges between the two shores of the Bay of Bengal led, among other processes, to the Indianisation of those parts of the region that straddled the main routes of exchange. Some essays follow up these processes into better known "classical" times or even into modern times, showing that the localisation process of Indian themes has long remained at work, allowing local societies to produce their own social space and express their own ethos.

This study revisits one of the most extensive examples of the spread of ideas in the history of civilization: the diffusion of Indian religious and political ideas to Southeast Asia before the advent of Islam and European colonialism. Hindu and Buddhist concepts and symbols of kingship and statecraft helped to legitimize Southeast Asian rulers, and transform the political institutions and authority of Southeast Asia. But the process of this diffusion was not accompanied by imperialism, political hegemony, or "colonization" as conventionally understood. This book investigates different explanations of the spread of Indian ideas offered by scholars, including why and how it occurred and what were its key political and institutional outcomes. It challenges the view that strategic competition is a recurring phenomenon when civilizations encounter each other.

This volume looks at facets of cultural interactions between India and Thailand---two historically significant countries of the South East Asian region. For the first time a comprehensive discussion on historical and contemporary cultural interactions between Indian and Thailand has been attempted in this volume. Asianization has become an important contemporary concept and, in this context, understanding cultural exchange within Asia is an important exercise. The chapters in this volume include contributions from noted scholars based in India and Thailand on different areas of cultural exchange: from religion, to art, artefacts, clothing, music---especially Indian classical music, cuisine, and the contemporary use of shared civilizational tools in the cultural diplomacy of both countries. Written in a lucid and accessible language, the chapters in this insightful volume are of interest to academics and researchers of cultural studies, Asian studies, development studies, modern Asian history, policy makers and general readers.

Buddhism has produced a cultural legacy more glorious than most great faiths. Initially spreading throughout Asia, over the centuries it triumphed not by the might of military conquest but by virtue of its revolutionary ideas and profound insights. For two-and-a-half millennia, both wealthy patrons and humble devotees have created a rich legacy of sacred art and architecture, from devotion paintings and manuscripts to some of the most magnificent temples and monasteries ever built. Stunning color photographs present a vivid portrait of this venerable religion and its great treasures—from its place of origin in northern India and out through its diffusion among the different kingdoms and empires of central, southern and eastern Asia—examining each geographical region in turn and Buddhism's influence on and contribution to the culture. An illuminating commentary places the creations of Buddhist artists and artisans in their geographical, historical, and artistic contexts and explains the significance of the faith's devotional paintings, manuscript art, sculptures, architecture, and sacred motifs and symbols.

On the cultural exchange between Orissa and Southeast Asia; a study.