Aatish Taseer Traces Buddhism’s Asian Journey in T Magazine’s Travel Issue

Journalist Aatish Taseer’s three-part cover story for T Magazine’s Travel issue follows his two-month trek through Nepal, Thailand and Taiwan. The series blends daily field reports with a historical overview of Buddhism’s spread from its 6th-century B.C. origins to its contemporary forms.

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Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha, was born in Lumbini (present-day Nepal) around 563 B.C. Two centuries after his death, Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire erected a pillar at the site, inscribing a rare personal declaration of his pilgrimage. The Buddha’s first sermon in Sarnath launched a doctrine that quickly expanded across the Indian subcontinent.

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• c. 563 B.C.: Birth of Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini.

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• c. 250 B.C.: Ashoka’s Lumbini pillar commemorates the birthplace.

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• 3rd century B.C.: Theravada Buddhism reaches Sri Lanka; Mahayana emerges.

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• 1st century C.E.: First Buddhist temple founded in Luoyang, China.

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Buddhism’s elasticity has allowed it to merge with local traditions, from state-endorsed practice in Thailand to diaspora communities in Taiwan. Today it has roughly 330 million adherents and is the majority religion in seven Asian nations, with Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana reflecting centuries of cultural adaptation.

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Editor Klara Glowczewska called the project an exploration of Buddhism’s adaptability across cultures; deputy editor Deborah Dunn noted that nightly field reports shaped the series’ layered narrative.

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Taseer portrays the Buddha’s privileged upbringing as that of an elite, highlighting debates over the religion’s origins and contemporary relevance.

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In Lumbini, Taseer observed the white-walled Maya Devi Temple, a pond where turtles bask, and the Ashokan pillar, whose personal inscription is rare among imperial monuments. Archaeologist Basanta Kumar Bidari, who has devoted three decades to the site, noted the pillar’s unique inscription.

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Sources list the Buddha’s birth as either 563 B.C. or 623 B.C. The series also leaves unanswered how recent Chinese religious policy affects Buddhist practice in Taiwan.

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• “I myself came here.” — Translation of Ashokan pillar inscription

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• “There are so many Ashokan pillars and edicts,” — Basanta Kumar Bidari, retired archaeologist

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• “I was delicate, extremely delicate, too delicate,” — Buddha, as reported by Taseer

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• “ I had grown up in India hardened to the horrors of poverty, and Siddhartha, before his awakening, struck me as too precious, too cosseted — a nepo baby if ever there was one!” — Aatish Taseer

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• “Some 15 years ago, while an editor at a travel magazine, I proposed to my boss and editor in chief, Klara Glowczewska, that I undertake what I pitched as a Grand Tour of Asia.” — Aatish Taseer

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The magazine will release a detailed map and timeline of Buddhism’s transmission, a glossary of key terms and an annotated reading list, inviting readers to explore the religion’s past and evolving role across Asia.

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