Essays on Tibetan Cultural Heritage/Karubaki Datta. New
Delhi, Serials Publications, 2008, xii, 250 p., ISBN
81-8387-127-3.
Contents: Preface. Contributors. 1. Buddhist sects in Tibet/A.C. Bannerjee. 2. A short history of Buddhism in Bhutan/Lopen Pemala. 3. The problem of Buddhist art/Pabitra Kumar Roy. 4. The historicity of Indo-Tibetan Relations and Indo-Tibetan Literature/Ratna Basu. 5. The status of Tibetan language/Thubten Tsering. 6. An introduction to Tibetan language and literature/Narendra Kumar Dash. 7. The relics in the Tibetan tradition/Rachel Guidoni. 8. Monasteries of Sikkim with specific reference to the economic structure/Ranju R. Dhamala. 9. Monasteries in Sikkim: a geographical study/D.P. Boot. 10. The Buddhist monasteries of Darjeeling Hills/Karubaki Datta. 11. The Buddhist Tribes of Arunachal Pradesh/Hasibul Rahaman.
"The book contains articles on different aspects of Tibetan culture and religion. It covers the states of and regions of Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, Darjeeling and Arunachal Pradesh.
Three articles on Tibetan language and religion trace the history of the origin and growth of the Tibetan language while the article on Tibetan art examines Tibetan art in all its aspects and points out its orientation towards religion and religious presuppositions. History of the sects of Mahayana Buddhism and the history of the spread of Buddhism in Bhutan have been discussed in two articles. Role and importance of relics in Tibetan Buddhism is the subject matter of one article.
One important aspect of Tibetan Buddhism is the establishment of monasteries. Both Sikkim and Darjeeling abound in such monasteries with or without monastic estates and colleges for higher religious education. History of the establishment of such monasteries and their economic role have been examined in details in three articles.
Finally the article on Arunachal gives an impression of religious practices of the Buddhist tribes of the state." (jacket)