lunes, 16 de mayo de 2016


Australasian Association of Buddhist Studies (AABS)
Dear list members,

Our next seminar will be at 6:00-7:30pm on Thursday May 26 in the Rogers Room (N397) of the John Woolley Building, University of Sydney.

We hope you can attend this event.

Kind regards,
AABS Executive


The Buddhist City-State of Arakan During the 15th to 18th Centuries: Art, Architecture, Religion and Daily Life in a Forgotten Kingdom

The surviving temples and archaeological ruins of Mrauk-U, the old capital of Arakan, once called “The Venice of the East”, have left intriguing clues about the practice of Buddhism by kings and commoners. In temple decorations, the kings may be portrayed as gods reborn, while their followers wrestle, play music or go shopping, but also devotedly worship. Huge sandstone Buddha images are still being discovered on jungle hilltops surrounding the city, witness to a drive to make merit through monument construction. The acquisition of merit through donation remains a strong aspect of Arakanese (and Burmese) culture today, and may perhaps be a somewhat alien notion to westerners who might tend to focus more on the personal and intellectual aspects of Buddhism. But those Arakanese donors several hundred years ago did leave behind such inspiring and beautiful Buddhist artworks and architecture!

Bob Hudson is an Australian archaeologist who has worked in Arakan (on the west coast of Myanmar) and central Myanmar/Burma for more than 20 years. He is an adviser to UNESCO & the Myanmar Ministry of Culture, and is currently working to produce a digital map of the temples of Mrauk-U, the city that is the focus of this talk.



Buddhist reliquary stupa

Gold leaf covered schist reliquary in the form of a stupa.  Kusana period, North Western India. National Museum, Karachi, Pakistan. Copyright: Huntington, John C. and Susan L.Huntington Archive