NEW DELHI, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- "There is certainly no restriction on Chinese people's belief in Buddha. I had to squeeze in the crowds of believers to get into some of the temples," said Sunita Dwivedi, an Indian journalist and photographer who had traveled to almost every Buddhist temple in China.

Since 2000, she had traveled the entire ancient Silk Road starting from Xi'an to Xinjiang and Tibet. "I was amazed at the good quality of the 4-lane road in the Gobi desert where no one lives, while villages in northeast India still lack access to proper road and power supply." she said. Seeing good roads, power supply and cheap food in villages of Xinjiang, she concluded "Froman Indian perspective, it shows that common people lead a satisfying life since villagers' basic needs are met."

The good quality infrastructures are also indicators of a proper protection of Buddhist heritage sites, she said. "I found China very different from what I had learnt from the media, one has to go there to see what it really is."

During the journey, she met people living along the ancient route, gathered oral histories, and examined ancient manuscripts. She felt there is need to reopen the great Asian Highway that ran between India, China, through Myanmar and extended to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia in order to promote greater economic integration of the entire region. This link in Asia was recognized by no less a person than Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India.

Born in Kushinagar of northern India where the Buddha attains Mahaparinirvana, Sunita was inspired by the "Dying Buddha" in the Mahaparinirvana temple and the enigmatic Ramabhar Stupa that lay just behind her house, to learn about the great Sage and his path to Salvation. She said that even though she is a Hindu, the Buddha was seen as one of incarnations of Lord Vishnu in Hinduism. The dream of following the Buddha has taken her to Buddhist sites all over India, Japan, and China with a self-guided goal of researching and pilgrim.

After giving a vivid account in her first book "Buddhist heritage sites of India" in 2005, she now puts the "exhilarating experience" in China into a nearly 400-page book "In quest of the Buddha: A journey on the Silk Road" with photos taken by herself.

"Many learned books on this subject have been written by mostly Europeans, It is the first popular book by an Indian author, which reveals Indian interests in Chinese culture, on the role of Buddhism in Chinese people's life." said a renowned Indian Buddhist scholar Lokesh Chandra whom Sunita had never met but wrote a forward for her book. "I always call the Buddhism 'the people's culture of China' as opposed to the Palace culture. The easy-to-read and flowing style of Sunita's book may create interests among non-experts," he said.

He told Xinhua that China is always an important country to India. Indian historians sometimes have to rely on Chinese accounts of history with details such as date. "Xinjiang preserves the most ancient manuscripts which are very important to Indian historians because we have lost these Sanskrit texts. Xuanzang is a fundamental writer for understanding Indian history."

Sunita's quest along the Silk Road does not end here. She is planning to make a film on the Silk Road, with the footages she collected during her five trips to China, and to organize exhibitions of her photography on the Silk Road.
Editor: Chris

Source: Xinhua