According to textual sources, Buddhism was introduced in Nepal during the Buddha’s lifetime, and there is some probability that the Buddha himself visited Kathmandu valley. A Nepalese chronicle states that during his sojourn in Nepal in the 3^rd century BC, the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka also passed through Kathmandu valley.

The Nepalese valley of Kathmandu, which was situated on an important trade route between India and Central Asia, counts various sacred Buddhist sites. Due to the arrival of numerous Tibetan Buddhists from 1959 onwards, Mahayana Buddhism has flourished in Kathmandu valley, which is one of the four most important pilgrimage destinations for Buddhists.

In and around the Buddha’s birthplace in Lumbini, Nepal, several important archaeological sites associated with the life of the Buddha were discovered from the end of the 19^th century onwards. Findings such as the pillars which were erected by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in the 3^rd century BC revealed important information about the birth and life of the Buddha. In the late 1960s, UN Secretary-General U Thant visited Lumbini. He subsequently called on the international community to develop the area into a pilgrimage centre.

Japanese art counts many illustrations of the life and death of Maya (“illusion”), the mother of the Buddha, which are very faithful to the Indian tradition. However, in one respect Japanese Buddhists chose an original path: even though Maya is generally not venerated by Buddhists, a temple devoted to the worship of Buddha’s mother was discovered on a mountain near Kobe. In this temple, a statue of Maya and inscriptions reveal that she was venerated there as a universal mother.

After the birth of Buddhism, the new religion quickly spread to large parts of Central, South and Southeast Asia. Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, was a very important pilgrimage destination from the 3^rd century BC onwards. A pillar with an inscription erected by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 245 BC identifies the spot where the Buddha was born. Lumbini was densely populated and much visited until the early Middle Ages. However, the site was concealed by a forest from the fifteenth or sixteenth century onwards.

Since Buddhist monks used to travel with merchants, maritime trade relations between South and Southeast Asia played a major role for the expansion of Buddhism into the latter region. In mainland Southeast Asia, which entertained intense contact with Sri Lanka, Theravada Buddhism was predominant and survived even after the arrival of Islam and Christianity in the region led to the conversion of the biggest part of maritime Southeast Asia.

Malay was not only a lingua franca of trade in maritime Southeast Asia, but it also found its way into Javanese literature. In coastal towns in Indonesia, the contact between people from different ethnicities was particularly intense. The Sêrat Jayalêngkara, a Muslim book written in the East Javanese coastal area during the 18^th century, contains speeches by two characters in oral Malay which indicate that the author of the work was bilingual.

The decorative arts and crafts in Kashmir, which was an important trading centre due to its strategic position on the land Silk Road, absorbed many foreign cultural influences. Kashmir’s history was marked by subsequent religious conversions. Following a Buddhist and a Hinduist period, Kashmir was ruled by Muslim Sultans who brought in artisans from other regions, for instance Central Asia. There were several stylistic changes and high points in the evolution of the decorative arts.

Maps and travel accounts bear witness to the importance of Sri Lankan harbour cities since antiquity. The port city of Manthai, for instance, already appears in Ptolemy’s world map from the 2^nd century AD. In the 6^th century AD, the Greek traveller Cosmas Indicopleustes described Manthai as a major centre of trade in the Indian Ocean. Adam’s Peak became a pilgrimage destination for Muslims such as Ibn Battuta, who evoked a number of Sri Lankan port cities.

Islam was introduced in Java by missionaries travelling along the maritime Silk Road. It was influenced by Sufism and integrated elements of earlier Indonesian beliefs. In coastal areas of Java, the encounter between local culture and foreign influences, which reached the area through overseas merchants, led to the emergence of new ornamental designs on artefacts and buildings. In mosques, tombs and palaces along the North Javanese coast, a large variety of ornamental designs were found, such as floral, animal and geometric patterns.