In 2018, I traveled through Southeast Asia. Although I was aware that Buddhism and Hinduism had reached Southeast Asia from India centuries ago, the extent to which they influenced beliefs, art and architecture in the region came as a surprise. This article, published in Khabar magazine in June 2018, is about my discovery of the influence of India’s culture on Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
The 600-year-old shrine of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a Theravada wat (temple) in Chiang Mai, a city in the mountainous northern region of Thailand, has many large and small statues of Buddha, beautifully crafted out of semiprecious materials like jade, emerald, and other stones. The stupas are coated with gold leaf. Read more…