China vs. India: the battle for Buddha

[ellisonz]

China and India seek to leverage their ties to Buddhism for soft power in the region.
Jason Overdorf - January 19, 2012 06:32

LUMBINI, Nepal — For a few short hours, as dancers imported from Kathmandu leapt and twirled for the bemused president of this tiny Himalayan republic, the sleepy, provincial town of Lumbini, in western Nepal, became the focus of the great chess game underway between India and China.

After a sudden, unannounced, and brief visit from Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in Kathmandu, Nepalese President Ram Baran Yadav had flown in to take the stage here — at the birthplace of Buddha — to inaugurate “Visit Lumbini Year 2012” on behalf of Nepal tourism.

But as he set fire to a symbolic, Olympic-style “peace flame,” more than a few observers were wondering about the fortuitous timing of the event, which coincided, like the flourish of a magician's cape, with the preventive detention of hundreds of Nepalese Tibetans in the capital.

The detention of Tibetans is nothing new, of course. And Nepal is always rife with rumors and conspiracy theories. But for the past several months a curious mystery has unfolded around Lumbini — the latest beachhead in the quiet battle for Buddha underway between China and India.

More: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/120118/nepal-buddhism-dalai-lama-china-tibet

Interesting, and lengthy look at the politics of Buddhism in China, Nepal and India including the economic importance of pilgrimages to holy sites.

[grantcart]

1. The Story of India by the BBC has a 9 part series that is a fascinating explanation of the historica

context of the holy sites and shows them today;


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2359467386775757720#

Personally I think this is the best documentary series in the history of TV.