Buddhist India Rediscovered has been beautifully carved by Aruna Deshpande to compile all Buddhist locations across India. India's rich and one of the oldest cultures consists of lot of said and unsaid stories about Buddhism. Where many places are tourist places enlisted in Ministries of Tourism attracting of Indian and Foreign tourists to visit these place to enrich themselves about Buddhism history, art & culture, and a lot more; there are many more unknown sites and locations that are undiscovered, not so popular and not enlisted in Tourism department's. Foreword has been written by His Holiness the Dalai Lama praising a lot about this book.
Aruna Deshpande has tried to cover all these known and unknown sites for the first time in the form of a book. So far there is no such compilation done. This is Aruna'a seventh book. Aruna is a writer, historian, traveler, and a keen learner. She has been extensively traveled to Asia and Europe to promote Tourism in India. She has been to most parts of India on specific and customized tours with large sized groups of tourists of Indian and Foreign origin. In Buddhist India Rediscovered, Aruna Deshpande has covered Buddhist culture, literature, stupas, monasteries, and anything and everything related to Buddhism. It is said that Buddhist Tourism was started by Buddha himself by sending 60 number of monks in various directions from Sarnath after he acquired enlightenment in Bodh Gaya under Bodhi Tree.
This beautiful journey of 365 pages starts with Atthamahathanani covering Bodh, Gaya, Lumbini, Sarnath, Sarvasti, Kushinagar, Sankisa, Rajnagar, and Vaishali. Then it moves on from these known places towards some unknown places in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, to further North Eastern states of India. It closes with the worth mentioning Buddhist places in Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
Aruna has given more than enough stuff to explore and discover by compiling this marvelous book Buddhist India Rediscovered. A must read for all aspirant and established travelers, historians and those interested in Buddhism and Buddhist tourist places all across India.
