Exploring Sacred Landscapes: The Insights of Faxian on Geography and Buddhism across South Asia 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59815/bhs.vol2702 

MD. HABIBULLAH

Lecturer, Department of History, University of Dhaka

Abstract: The profound reverence and love for the birthplace of Buddha and Buddhism has resulted in the advent of several pilgrimages from China to the Indian subcontinent. They were mainly devoted to tracing the original sources of their faith in the forms of visiting Buddhist vihāras or transcribing sacred religious scriptures. Faxian, also known as Fa-Hien, a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, eventually came to the subcontinent in 399 CE and remained here for 14 years, gathering Buddhist Vinaya texts and visiting sacred sites across the subcontinent. He is celebrated and held in esteem for his travelogue, Foguoji: "A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms," which makes available his observations vis-à-vis the geography, culture and religious practices of India and the Malay Archipelago. This research looks beyond the surface to understand the observations and interpretations of Faxian, exploring the geographical and environmental contexts, as well as the Buddha and Buddhism of 5^th century South Asia. The present research employs both a thematic approach and a geographical lens to bring together the scattered pieces of information relating to South Asian geography and the religious landscape as reflected in the account of Faxian. This effort on Faxian allows a further understanding of history and fosters thoughtful discourse on a number of issues relating to geography and religions of the early centuries CE.   

Key Words: Faxian, Buddhism, Geography, Sacred Spaces,     South Asia.