Buddhist Renaissance in India: The Experience of Appropriating a Minority Religion

Abstract

Since the 1950s, India, the birthplace of Buddhism, has been witnessing a revival of this ancient religious system; recently, this process has received full support from the Indian state, including its top leaders. As a result, some old international Buddhist organizations have been revived on Indian soil, while new ones have been created from scratch, and large events with international participation are being held, aimed at promoting India as a dialogue playground on a global scale. Meanwhile, traditional places of Buddhist pilgrimage are being turned into busy international tourism hotspots and even the ancient hub of Buddhist learning, the University of Nalanda has opened its doors to students after several centuries of oblivion. This paper shows that by doing this, the government tries to solve its own problems as it positions itself as a spiritual center of global importance. The Modi administration, which represents Hindu nationalists, is trying to deliver to the global audience the ideas and slogans of radical Hinduism, thus leveraging Buddhism’s popularity. It also observes, that despite the revival, ordinary Buddhists in India find themselves in the unfortunate position of a religious minority whose faith is not persecuted or suppressed, but rather appropriated.