From Lumbini to Kyoto: How Buddha linked India with the world

From the serene groves of Lumbini to the grand temples of Kyoto, the journey of the Buddha continues to resonate across Asia. More than 2,600 years after Gautama Siddhartha first preached compassion and non-violence, a new exhibition at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) brings his story to life, highlighting how his teachings spread from India to distant lands, shaping cultures, forging bonds, and leaving a lasting legacy of peace.

According to a report by Anuja Jaiswal for The Times of India, the exhibition Open until August 23 and takes visitors through key milestones in the Buddha’s life: his birth at Lumbini, enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, first sermon at Sarnath, and mahaparinirvana at Kushinagar. It also traces his journeys to Rajagriha, Vaishali, Shravasti, Sankasyanagar, and Mathura, where the foundations of the Buddhist order were established.

Prepared by the Brihattar Bharat Division of IGNCA, the exhibition is themed Buddha Sasanam Ciram Tisthatu (May the Buddha's teachings live forever). It forms part of the larger Brihattar Bharat Project, an IGNCA initiative aimed at safeguarding and studying India’s civilisational links beyond its borders. The project spans 28 countries — 11 in East Asia, 11 in Southeast Asia, and six in Central and Inner Asia — exploring cultural imprints from Cambodia’s Angkor Wat to Gandhara in Afghanistan.


“Through the Brihattar Bharat Project, we seek to rediscover and reaffirm India’s role in shaping Asia’s spiritual and cultural landscape,” said Vivek Aggarwal, secretary, culture ministry.

DC Chobey of the Brihattar Bharat Study added, “This exhibition is not just a visual journey of Lord Buddha’s life but a reminder that the Dhamma is India’s most profound gift to humanity.” Expanding on this, Dr Sachchidanand Joshi, member secretary, IGNCA, said, “Each stupa, monastery and sculpture tells us that India was never an isolated land. It was a radiant centre from which knowledge and spirituality flowed outward across Asia, creating bonds that still resonate.”

The exhibition showcases this cultural saga through maps, sculptures, and visual depictions of stupas and monasteries. Emperor Ashoka convened a grand council of scholars at Pataliputra to compile the Buddha’s teachings and spread them widely. His emissaries, the Dhammamahamatyas, carried the Four Noble Truths to distant regions, while centuries later, Kushan ruler Kanishka ensured Buddhism flourished across the continent.

Within India, powerful Buddhist centres emerged at Sanchi, Bharhut, Amaravati, Mathura, Sahasram, Dhauli, and Kashmir’s Kundalvana. Abroad, monasteries and shrines became hubs of faith and learning, from Luoyang, Chang’an, and Dunhuang in China to Nara and Kyoto in Japan, Seoul in Korea, Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Kandy in Sri Lanka, and Gandhara in Afghanistan. Each site reflects Buddhist influence on local art, philosophy, and cultural identity.

Curators say the IGNCA project positions India as vishwamitra (friend of the world), emphasizing how Buddha’s universal message of peace, non-violence, and harmony remains relevant in today’s fractured global order. “This exhibition is a reminder that Buddha’s teachings are not relics of the past,” a curator explained. “They are bridges that still connect India with the wider Asian family.”

With inputs from ToI