Discover India's Ancient Amarāvatī Buddhist Shrine at The British Museum

A guided tour of the exhibits of the great Buddhist temple at Amarāvatī, India and of Buddhist items from other countries at the Sir Joseph Hotung Gallery in the British Museum.

Although less well-known today, Amarāvatī was clearly important in the international dissemination of Buddhism, a fact still remembered in the sacred literatures of both the Thai and the Tibetan traditions. Also, there were clearly links between Buddhists at sites such as Amarāvatī and those in Sri Lanka but these are still being unravelled, a narrative made complicated by the almost complete loss of the texts of the south Indian Buddhists of the early centuries AD.

Richard Blurton is an archaeologist and the retired Head of the South and Southeast Asia Section of the British Museum (1986-2018). He has written and published extensively on the cultural history of South Asia, most recently India: a History in Objects (2022), Krishna in the Garden of Assam (2016), Bengali Myths (2006) and Burma and the Art of Lacquer (2000). Richard has conducted fieldwork in many of the renowned Hindu and Buddhist sites of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. We are delighted that Dr Richard Blurton has volunteered to offer a personal guided tour of the British Museum’s Buddhist displays for the British MahaBodhi Society.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

WC1E 7JW, Montague Place, London, United Kingdom