Vikram Lall. The Golden Lands: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam (Architecture of the Buddhist World). Kuala Lumpur: JF Publishing, 2014, 280p.

Abstract

The Golden Lands: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam (Architecture of World) Vikram Lall Kuala Lumpur: JF Publishing, 2014, 280p.This is a large-format (335×260 mm) book with a hard cover, printed on glossy art-quality paper, and contains numerous color photographs by professional photographers as well as sophisticated maps and other graphics. It is thus in danger of being lumped with coffee-table books.The author is a practicing architect based in Delhi. According to his Linkedin description, book is first of a series which is planned to consist of six volumes on of world, (not specifically architecture,) employing an interdisciplinary perspective including architecture, history, religion, and philosophy. The company with which he is associated, Lall and Associates (established in 1969) has obtained commissions for a wide range of projects, in fields of urban planning and design, education (22 schools), hospitality and tourism, residential, offices, transport, industry, and medicine, in addition to institutional and religious buildings. In latter category are a Japanese temple at Bodhgaya (one of eight places where Buddha's relics were originally interred), and Buddha Smriti Park, Patna.1) The firm's client list reads like a who's who of corporate and official India: The Hindustan Times, Tata Power, United Nations, governments of Bihar and Sikkim, State Bank of India, Indian Railways, etc.One of clients on list which is relevant to this topic is Nalanda Educational Society. Vikram Lall's architectual study of Nalanda has been published by School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. An interesting project listed under scientific study/research papers on his website is Schematic conjecture of ancient city of Pataliputra (327 BC) through historical & archaeological study-developed a scale model of conjecture that is displayed at museum at Patna, 1997.The book is organized by country; chapters are devoted to Myanmar (50 pages), Vietnam (38 pages), Indonesia (32 pages), Cambodia (32 pages), Thailand (51 pages), and Laos (44 pages). The book opens with a section which develops a theoretical framework (23 pages). The Myanmar section focuses on 19 monuments, including Bupaya, which is oldest in book (third century). Ten monuments in Vietnam, 8 in Indonesia, 9 in Cambodia, 10 in Thailand, and 8 in Laos are listed in a chronology of selected monuments on pages 6-7.The preface (p. 9) which introduces series of six books, acknowledges that terms Buddhist and architecture have no generally accepted meanings. The preface asserts that of buildings associated with worship has been neglected in comparison with amount of study devoted to other aspects of Buddhism. It also states that buildings devoted to activity are highly diverse, because Buddhism spread over a large part of ancient world before declining in popularity in some areas such as India. The diversity of can also be connected to different symbolic and functional roles played by various types of structures, which together formed a network of meanings. Future books in series will be devoted to the Heavenly Lands (China, Japan, and Korea), Ancient Lands (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), Mountain Lands (the Himalayas and Tibetan plateau), Hidden Lands (central Asia, Mongolia, and Silk Road), and Modern Lands (contemporary architecture).The author is more interested in collective development than in individual monuments. Thus each country section begins with a general overview, and ends with a discussion of a few selected structures. Given broad span of Buddhism's distribution in Southeast Asia, region's renowned cultural diversity, and Buddhism's tolerance of local tradition, it is interesting to note strong continuity in use of certain architectural forms and decorative motifs over six countries discussed here. …