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Buddhist Tourism

By Dr. Shrikant Ganvir   |   (Assistant Professor, Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, (Deemed to be University), Pune) | Central Institute Of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), Sarnath, Varanasi
Learners enrolled: 588
The course was initially offered during the July-Oct 2023 semester and garnered an exceptional global response, attracting a total enrollment of 2,227 learners. Among the enrollees, 73 from United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, USA , Vietnam, AND Zimbabwe participated in the course.

Recognizing this high demand, the UGC relaunched the course for the Jan-April 2024 semesters which once again generated significant interest. The course witnessed a substantial enrollment of  1147 respectively,  from around the world.

The course coordinator and their team are available for support and interaction throughout the duration of the course via the Course Discussion Forum. Additionally, the Course Coordinator conducts a live online class at the end of each week during weekends, where they address learners' questions and concerns.

The Course's examination is scheduled for December 14, 2024, and will be conducted in Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode from 09:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The exam, consisting of 50 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), will be administered nationwide by the National Testing Agency.


1. About the course:  

Buddhist Tourism is a four-credit course of 15 weeks’ duration.

In the 1st credit, we will discuss the sacred sites related to the life of Buddha: Lumbini- where Siddharth Gautam was born, Bodhgaya- where he attained enlightenment, Sarnath- where Gautam Buddha delivered his first sermon called Dhammachakkapavattan Sutta and lastly, Kushinara / Kushinagar- where Buddha attained Mahaparinibban.

In credit 2, we will study the Buddhist Heritage Sites of Northern, Eastern and North-Eastern India. We will undertake a journey to the ancient Buddhist University of Vikramashila, the grand Buddhist stupa at Kesariya, the Buddhist Heritage Triangle of Ratnagiri-Udayagiri-Lalitagiri and other important sites.

Credit 3 is devoted to the study of the Buddhist Heritage Sites of Central and Western India. The World Heritage Sites such as Sanchi, Ajanta and Ellora have been a major attraction for international tourists in these regions. Besides a virtual journey to these sites in this credit, we will also be discussing other important Buddhist sites from these regions such as Sirpur, Junnar, Karle, Bhaja, Kanheri and the recently excavated Buddhist site of Vadnagar.

The 4th credit will shed light on Buddhist Heritage sites of South India and modern Buddhist tourist sites. We will be virtually visiting and understanding important Buddhist sites such as Amravati, Nagarjunakonda, Guntapalli, Salihundam. The 20th century witnessed the revival of Buddhism in India. In this credit, we are also going to study Modern Buddhist Sites like Deekshabhoomi at Nagpur, Dharmashala and Global Vipassana Pagoda at Mumbai.

The course aims to provide an outline of Buddhist Heritage Sites in India. The course focuses on the sites in India though the only exception is made in the case of Lumbini. Lumbini, though it belongs to Nepal, is included because it is Buddha’s birthplace and it is easy to approach from India. The course will help the student to get acquainted with archaeological and historical remains of Buddhism in ancient India and their relevance in the present context; to promote heritage awareness among the society. A special advantage of this course is that it aims to provide opportunities for Buddhist Tourism Industry; to facilitate career-oriented knowledge in the field of Buddhist Heritage and Tourism.

2. Pre-requisite for the course:

Graduation in any subject with the knowledge of English as medium of instruction, interest in Buddhist studies.

3.  Course type: core or elective:  Open Elective

4. Estimated work load every week: 8 to 12 hours. (Watching videos, reading module contents- (2 or 3 every week), attempting questions and reading related reference materials.)

5. Total assignments allotted for the course (Indicate Graded assignments (which contain marks) and non-graded (those non-marks): In all fifteen assignments (one assignment per week) and 15 assignments without marks. In addition, there will be five long essay type assignments (One assignment every three weeks). Out of them three assignments will be graded and two non-graded.
Summary
Course Status : Ongoing
Course Type : Elective
Duration : 15 weeks
Category :
  • Multidisciplinary
Credit Points : 4
Level : Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date : 18 Jul 2024
End Date : 31 Oct 2024
Enrollment Ends : 31 Aug 2024
Exam Date : 14 Dec 2024 IST
Exam Date: :

9:00AM to 03:00PM (Live doubt classes every weekend)

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits



Course layout

6. Week wise schedule 
Buddhist Tourism: Week-wise Distribution of Modules
                          
Week 1
1. Introduction to Buddhist Tourism
2. Origin and Development of Buddhist Pilgrimage in India
3. Lumbini

Week 2
4. Bodhgaya
5. Sarnath
6. Rajgir

Week 3
7. Vaishali
8. Shravasti 

Week 4
9. Nalanda
10. Kushinara

Week 5
11. Buddhist Sites of Ladakh
12. Buddhist Sites of Rajasthan: Kolvi and Bairat
13. Vikramashila (Antichak)

Week 6
14. Kesaria
15. Telhara and other Buddhist sites of Bihar
16. Buddhist sites of West Bengal

Week 7
17. Ratnagiri
18. Udayagiri
19. Lalitagiri
20. Buddhist Sites of Arunachal Pradesh

Week 8
21. Sanchi
22. Satdhara and other Buddhist Sites of Madhya Pradesh
23. Sirpur
24. Vadnagar and Other Buddhist Sites of Gujarat

Week 9
25. Bhaja, Bedsa and Karle
26. Junnar and Nashik
27. Pitalkhora and Aurangabad

Week 10
28. Kanheri and Kondivate
29. Ajanta
30. Ellora

Week 11
31. Amaravati
32. Nagarjunakonda and Anupu
33. Thotlakonda and Bavikonda

Week 12
34. Salihundam and Sankaram
35. Guntupalli and other Buddhist sites of Andhra Pradesh  

Week 13
36. Phanigiri and other Buddhist Stupa sites of Telangana
37. Kanaganahalli

Week 14
38. Deeksha Bhoomi, Nagpur
39. Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh

Week 15
40. Global Vipassana Pagoda, Mumbai

Books and references

  1. Agrawal, R.C. 2013. Buddhist Monasteries of Ladakh. New Delhi: Sharada Publishing House. 
  2. Cunningham, Alexander. 1854 [1997]. The Bhilsa Topes or Buddhist Monuments of Central India. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
  3. Cunningham, Alexander. 1876 [1962] The Stupa of Bharhut: A Buddhist Monument Ornamented with Numerous Sculptures. Varanasi: Indological Book House.
  4. Dhavalikar, M.K. 2016. Cultural Heritage of Mumbai. Mumbai: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastusangrahalaya.
  5. Handa, O.C. 2004. Buddhist Monasteries of Himachal Pradesh. New Delhi: Indus Publishing Company. 
  6. Huntington, John C. 1985. “Sowing the Seeds of the Lotus: A Journey to the Great Pilgrimage Sites of Buddhism, Part I. Orientations (November): 46-61. 
  7. Huntington, John C. 1986. “Sowing the Seeds of the Lotus: A Journey to the Great Pilgrimage Sites of Buddhism, Part II. Orientations (February): 28-43. 
  8. Huntington, John C. 1986. “Sowing the Seeds of the Lotus: A Journey to the Great Pilgrimage Sites of Buddhism, Part III. Orientations (March): 32-46. 
  9. Huntington, John C. 1986. “Sowing the Seeds of the Lotus: A Journey to the Great Pilgrimage Sites of Buddhism, Part IV. Orientations (July): 28-40. 
  10. Huntington, John C. 1986. “Sowing the Seeds of the Lotus: A Journey to the Great Pilgrimage Sites of Buddhism, Part V. Orientations (September): 46-88.  
  11. Kail. O.C. 1975. Buddhist Cave Temples of India. Bombay: D.B. Taraporevala.
  12. Knox, Robert. 1992. Amaravati – Buddhist Sculpture from the Great Stupa. London: British Museum Press.
  13. Mitra, Debala. 1971. Buddhist Monuments. Calcutta: Sahitya Samsad.
  14. Nagaraju, S. 1981. Buddhist Architecture of Western India (c. 250 B.C.- c. A.D. 300). Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan.
  15. Poonacha, K. P. 2011. Excavations at Kanaganahalli (Sannati, Dist. Gulbarga, Karnataka). New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India. 
  16. Pradhan, Sadasiba. 2013. Buddhist Heritage of Odisha. Kolkata: Bennett Coleman & Company Ltd
  17. Ramachandra Rao, P. R. 1984. Andhra Sculptures. Hyderabad: Akshara. 
  18. Ray, H.P. 2013. Buddhist Heritage of Odisha. New Delhi: Aryan Books International. 
  19. Roy, Amal. 2012. Jagjivanpur 1996-2005 Excavation Report. Kolkata: Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of West Bengal.
  20. Sarao, K. T. S., and Jeffery D. Long, eds. 2017. Buddhism and Jainism (Encyclopaedia of Indian Religions). New York: Springer. 
  21. Sekhar, Sasi. 2006. The Wheel and Its Track: A History of Buddhism in Early Andhra. Rajahmundry: Mokkapati Subbarayudu.
  22. Sharma, A. K. 2014. Buddhist Monuments of Sirpur. New Delhi: B. R. Publishing Company.
  23. Singh, Rana P.B. 2004. Where the Buddha Waked: A Companion to the Buddhist Places of India. Varanasi: Indica Books.
  24. Verma, B.S.  2011. Antichak Excavations-2 (1971–1981). New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India.

Instructor bio

Dr. Shrikant Ganvir

(Assistant Professor, Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, (Deemed to be University), Pune) | Central Institute Of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), Sarnath, Varanasi
Dr. Shrikant Ganvir 

Course Coordinator Details :
Assistant Professor, Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology,
Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, (Deemed to be University), Pune.
Email Id: spganvir@gmail.com; shrikant.ganvir@dcpune.ac.in

Dr Shrikant Ganvir (born on 23-04-1974) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, (Deemed to be University), Pune. He is also a visiting faculty in the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune. He was recipient of the UGC Junior and Senior Research Fellowships for doctoral research. 
He was a co-director of the excavations at Nagardhan, one of the capitals of the Eastern Vakatakas in Maharashtra (2015-18) and Phanigiri, a Buddhist monastic site in Telangana (2018-19). He also participated in the Rajagala Archaeological Research Project, Sri Lanka in 2018. He coedited ‘A Preliminary Report of the Excavations at Nagardhan 2015-16 (ISPQS and Govt. of Maharashtra, 2020), ‘Cultural Heritage of South Asia and Beyond: Recent Perspective’ (Research India Press and SOSAA, 2020) and ‘Telangana through the Ages: Perspectives from Early and Medieval Periods’ (Dept of Heritage Telangana, Govt. of Telangana, 2019). He worked as an academic consultant to the Buddhavanam Project, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Government of Telangana during 2018-21. 
He is the course coordinator for Post Graduate Diploma in Buddhist Heritage and Tourism, a joint course between Savitribai Phule Pune University and Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute. He has published 32 research papers in both national as well as international journals. His research areas include Buddhist Heritage, Archaeology of Buddhism, Buddhist Rock-cut Architecture, Ancient Indian Art and Architecture, Ancient Indian Iconography and Religious Paradigms of the Deccan. 

Central Institute Of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), Sarnath, Varanasi Is Host University For The Course. 

Coordinator of the Course :-


Ven. Prof. (Dr.) Wangchuk Dorjee Negi
Vice Chancellor (Addl. charge). 
Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi

Professor Wangchuk Dorjee Negi is currently the Vice-Chancellor (Addl. charge)  of Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi.

Prof. Wangchuk Dorjee Negi is currently the Vice Chancellor (Addl. Charge) of Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi. He did his Acharya (MA) in Buddhist Philosophy from the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath and PhD (Buddhist Philosophy) from Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi. He is a Professor of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the Department of Mool Shastra, Faculty of Hetu Evam Adhyatma Vidya at CIHTS, Sarnath. He is the Dean of the Faculty of Hetu Evam Adhyatman Vidya and Director of R&D Cell of the Institute. His teaching area involves tenets of the four Indian Buddhist Philosophical Schools: Madhyamaka, Yogacara, Sautrantika and Vaibhashika; Buddhist Pramana; and Buddhist Ethics. His research interest includes Buddhist Tantra and Buddhist Hermeneutical works. 

Prof. Negi was the Vice Chancellor (Addl. Charge) of CIHTS, Sarnath from 2-12-2021 to 12-04-2022 and the Director of Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh, Ladakh from 2010 to 2015.  As a Visiting Professor under Exchange Programs, he has taught at University of Tasmania, Australia and Smith College & Hampshire College, MA, USA. He has also visited as a Research Guide at Taisho University, Japan and as a Visiting Faculty for the Survey of Sanskrit Buddhist Manuscripts in Okayama, Japan. Prof. Negi has represented India (Nominated by Govt. of India) in SAARC Regional & Cultural Seminar in Sri Lanka and ICCR Seminar in Cambodia. Additionally, in the capacities of Resource Person and Dharma Teacher, he has visited Universities and Dharma Centers in Chile, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Burma. 

As their Indian Advisor, he has guided several Fulbright Research Scholars from USA, Europe etc. though USIEF & AIIS, New Delhi. He has got several books to his credit which includes What is Buddhism (English, 2016) (also translated into Spanish and Chinese), Commentary on Dhammapada (Hindi, 2010) (also translated into Tibetan 2014 and Bengali 2012); Commentary on Dhammapada in the Context of Modern Time (English, 2013); Vajrayana Darshan Evam Sadhana (Hindi, 1998); Vajrayana Darshan Mimansa (Sanskrit, 2009); Prajnaparamita-Hrdaya-Sutra-Sputartha-Bhashya - Commentary on Heart Sutra (Hindi, 2019); translated & edited works in Hindi/Sanskrit; and several papers/chapters published in various journals and anthologies.

Publications/ Conferences:
Books 8:
Monographs:
1. Negi, Wangchuk Dorjee. Prajnaparamita-hrdaya-sutra-sputartha-bhashya (Commentary on Heart Sutra), Published by Kunphel Ling, Taiwan, 2019. Print, Hindi. ISBN PB 9788193625460
2. Negi, Wangchuk Dorjee. What Is Buddhim. Third Edition. Dehra Dun: Songtsen Library, 2016. Print, English. ISBN 978-81922829-3-0. Second Edition 2014, First Edition 2010 (Translated into Spanish 2017; Chinese 2016)
3. Negi, Wangchuk Dorjee. Dhammapada: Commentary in the Context of Modern Time. Varanasi: CIHTS, 2013. Print, English. ISBN HB 979380282374, PB 979380282381
4. Negi, Wangchuk Dorjee. Vajrayāna Darśana Mīmāṁsā (An Analysis of Vajrayana Philosophy). Varanasi: CIHTS, 2009. Print, Sanskrit. ISBN HB 9788187127857, PB 9788187127864
5. Negi, Wangchuk Dorjee. Commentary on Dhammapada in Hindi. Third Edition. Taipei: CBBEF, 2010. Print, Hindi. Second Edition 2006, First Edition 2003 (Translated into Tibetan 2014; Bengali 2012; Translating into Sinhalese) http://ftp.budaedu.org/ebooks/pdf/IIT01.pdf
6. Negi, Wangchuk Dorjee. Vajrayāna Darśana Evam Sādhana (Theory and Practice of Vajrayana). Varanasi: CIHTS, 1998. Print, Hindi. ISBN HB 9789380282879, PB 9789380282886 [Reprint 2017]
Translations:
7. Introduction to Buddhism by H.H. Dalai Lama - Hindi Translation. Translator. Negi, Wangchuk Dorjee, Varanasi: 2010
8. Kagyu Sangha Mahapranidhana Paat Sankalan - Hindi Translation. Co-Translator. Negi, Wangchuk Dorjee. Dharamsala: Dophen Tsuklag Petun Khang, 2007

Books Published as co-editor in RBTRU, CIHTS, Sarnath, Varanasi: 5
Published Chapters/Articles: 56 (International 12; National 44)



Teaching Assistant for the Course:-


Name: Oshin Bamb
Email: oshinbamb@gmail.com
Mobile number: +91-9420347982

Oshin Bamb is a Research Fellow of Bhagwan Shitalnath Chair for Jain Archaeology and is currently pursuing doctoral research at the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture & Archaeology at Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed to be University), Pune. He pursued Bachelor of Arts (History) in ‘O’grade from Fergusson College, Pune (2019); M.A. in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology in ‘O’grade (2021) and Certificate Course in Archaeology of Buddhism from Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Pune. His areas of research include Archaeology of Indian religions with special reference to Jainism and Buddhism, rock-cut caves of the Western Deccan, Ethnoarchaeology and Public Archaeology. 

Course certificate

The Interested Learners (Students, Working Professionals, and Life-Long Learners) can enroll and learn this MOOC course for free. 

If you want to get SWAYAM Certificate for this course, you have to register for SWAYAM Examination and write the proctored examination conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA: https://swayam.nta.ac.in/) in its various exam centres across India.  The SWAYAM examination fee for this course is Rs.750, to be paid at the time of Exam registration.   

Marks Distribution:
In this course, 30 Marks will be allocated for Internal Assessment (assignment/ discussion forum/ activity) and 70 Marks will be allocated for external proctored examination.

A  minimum of 40 % passing marks (i.e. at-least 12 marks in Internal Assessment & 28 Marks in external proctored examination) will be required for being eligible for SWAYAM Certificate.

Kindly note:- The students enrolled in Universities/Institutions/Colleges can avail Credit Transfer as per UGC SWAYAM Regulations, 2021 for this course. The Host University for this Credit Transfer will be Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS), Sarnath, Varanasi.

Mode of Exam : Computer Based Test Conducted by Government of India Agency's i.e. National Testing Agency (NTA).
The Course's examination is scheduled for December 14, 2024, and will be conducted in Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode from 09:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The exam, consisting of 50 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), will be administered nationwide by the National Testing Agency.


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