Explores the importance of Buddhism as it developed in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra (modern-day Andhra Pradesh) and its influence.

Offering perspectives from a distinguished group of international scholars, this book provides a multidisciplinary inquiry into the various forms of Buddhism that thrived during the early centuries of the common era in the Krishna River Valley areas of what is now the modern state of Andhra Pradesh in India. The contributors explore not only the factors that led to the rise of Buddhist communities, but also the significance of these early Buddhist communities in the unfolding of the greater history of Buddhism throughout the Asian world.

“…a welcome addition to the growing body of research that attempts to better understand the history of Indian Buddhism through a multidisciplinary approach … a valuable resource for both the general reader and the specialist scholar interested in one of the various methodologies or historical periods addressed in individual chapters.” — Religion

“This book will fill in scholarly lacunae where little has been published on the history of Buddhist communities in Andhra and their influence on historical and contemporary developments in this tradition, including in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. It forms a well-crafted whole and offers valuable insights into this neglected and understudied region.” — Juliane Schober, editor of Sacred Biography in the Buddhist Traditions of South and Southeast Asia

Contributors include A. W. Barber, Bart Dessein, Clifford Holt, Jacob N. Kinnard, Karen Lang, Sree Padma Holt, and Jonathan S. Walters.

Sree Padma Holt is Administrative Director of the ISLE Program at Bowdoin College. She is the author of Costume, Coiffure, and Ornaments in the Temple Sculpture of Northern Andhra. A. W. Barber is Associate Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Calgary. He is the editor of Tibetan Tripitaka, Taipei Edition.

Illustrations
Acknowledgments
A Note on Transliteration

Introduction
Sree Padma and A. W. Barber

1. Material Culture and the Emergence of Urban Buddhism in Andhra
Sree Padma

2. Of Tempted Arhats and Supermundane Buddhas: Abhidharma in the Krishna Region
Bart Dessein

3. Amaravati As Lens: Envisioning Buddhism in the Ruins of the Great Stūpa
Jacob N. Kinnard

4. Buddhism in Andhra and Its Influence on Buddhism in Sri Lanka
Sree Padma and John Clifford Holt

5. Candrakīrti on the Medieval Military Culture of South India
Karen C. Lang

6. Two Mahāyanā Developments Along the Krishna River
A. W. Barber

7. Dhanyakataka Revisited: Buddhist Politics in Post-Buddhist Andhra
Jonathan S. Walters

Sanskrit Place Names
Biographies of Contributors
Index