As one contributor to this volume, Robert Brown, sagely puts it, writing about stūpas in South Asia is “like writing about love: pretty much everything about it has been said, and all one can do is rephrase others' comments” (p. 78). Indeed, much ink has been spilled contemplating the meaning of these intriguing Buddhist structures. While this may be true of much of the art historical record, what has not been attempted to any large extent is an analysis of ancient stūpas as economic centers, as the subject of Buddhist literature, and in relation to the reconstruction of their archaeological contexts and the rise of urbanization in South Asia. The volume under review fills these gaps. It simultaneously provides a useful overview of scholarship on stūpas since colonial times, summarizing and evaluating earlier archaeological work (in some cases amounting to mere “treasure-hunting”; p. xvi) as well as recontextualizing past studies with an aim toward less fragmentation between art historical, archaeological, and textual approaches.
An introductory essay by the editors contextualizes the volume, offering theoretical models for contributing to the field of Buddhist studies. This is followed by fifteen articles divided into five thematic sections. The volume includes fifty-one black-and-white figures, diagrams, and maps; because of the small size of the volume, however, details of some images are unclear (e.g., figures 6.3 and 6.4). The cumulative bibliography, divided between primary and secondary sources, will be a resource for students and scholars undertaking a study of stūpas. Given the broad range of topics, approaches, and scholarly disciplines encompassed, it is unfortunate that there are no indices.
Section I, “The ‘Discovery’ of Buddhist Stūpas in Colonial India,” contains articles by Himanshu Prabha Ray and Jennifer Howes covering the formative fieldwork and scholarship of the colonial period as well as new interpretations of the original assessments. Both authors discuss the early formation of Buddhist studies and the important role that the stūpas played in it.
Section II, “The Stūpa and its Religious Meanings,” highlights the work of Michael Willis, Andy Rotman, and Robert Brown, exploring both textual and art historical approaches to stūpas with respect to religious meaning and power connected to relics, texts, and constructed spaces associated with these monuments. Rotman's examination of narratives of the Divyāvadāna (Indrabrāhmaṇa-avadāna and Toyikāmahā-avadāna) will be of special interest to scholars of South Asian pilgrimage.
Section III, “The Stūpa in Context,” stresses the importance of situating stūpas and related materials within their specific historical and archaeological contexts, thus echoing the editors' earlier concerns against more generalist and symbolic interpretations (pp. xxvi–xxviii). This section contains articles by Kurt Behrendt, Robert DeCaroli, Julia Shaw, and Jason Hawkes. Behrendt treats Gandharan narrative reliefs. DeCaroli looks at Naga worship—prominent in stūpa reliefs—exploring its intriguing place in premodern South Asia and its relationship to the “big” traditions of Buddhism and Vaiṣṇavism. Shaw and Hawkes contribute significantly to the reevaluation of the stūpa sites (esp. Sāñcī and Bharhut), invigorating their study with archaeological and geographic considerations.
Section IV, “Wider Social, Political and Economic Dimensions,” offers articles by Xinru Liu, James Heitzman, Akira Shimada, and Jonathan S. Walters, and contributes significantly to our understanding of stūpas as economic entities within South Asia's process of urbanization, its expanding trade routes, and increased contact with the outside world. Shimada writes a poignant essay on the nature of “outside” spaces on the periphery of Indian society and tells us much about the structure of sacred and economic spaces with respect to city dwellings. This is perhaps the most coherent and compelling section of the volume and offers much to build on.
Section V, “The Revival of a Tradition,” contains fine contributions by Catherine Becker and Jinah Kim, who write on the place of stūpas in the religious context of modern India. Kim, in particular, gives us a visceral, on-the-ground account of the continued significance of stūpas to the living traditions of Bodh Gaya and the surrounding region.
The volume might have benefited from further efforts to integrate the category of “Buddhism” into South Asian religious traditions. No mention is made, for example, of the ample inscriptions at stūpas along the Kṛṣṇa River basin describing the performance of Vedic rituals, nor of the patronage by Śaivite kings of the stūpa monuments at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa. Also absent is any critical discussion of how later datings of the historical Buddha (ca. 400 bce) may impact the interpretation of our evidence for stūpas. In addition, more could have been done to flesh out the importance of Gandhara to South Asian Buddhism; as such, Behrendt's excellent article stands in isolation. Aside from some lacunae, and one or two unfortunate inclusions, the volume is well worth reading and contributes much to knowledge of stūpas in South Asia. It should be consulted by anyone with an interest in Indian Buddhism and the material culture of early Buddhist communities.
