Introduction

The Post Graduate Department of Buddhist Studies sprang into existence in 1987 at the University of Jammu, and it was formally inaugurated on May 19, 1987, by the then Governor of Jammu & Kashmir State, Shri Jagmohan, the ex-officio Chancellor of the University of Jammu. It is pertinent to mention that Prof. M. L. Lakhanpal was the Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor at that time. 

The vision behind establishing this Department as a distinguished centre of teaching and research in Buddhist Studies in the northernmost state was to preserve, sustain and disseminate the traditional Buddhist wisdom and the chequered history of its glorious past in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions, which happened to be the most prominent stronghold of Buddhism since the days of Ashoka and Kanishka.

The Department has been engaged in offering the Master's Degree Programme as well as the Doctoral one since the inception of the Department in 1987. Buddhism stands for universal peace, compassion, tolerance, rational thinking and scientific orientation. The relevance of Buddhism in today’s strife-torn world is far more than ever before. It is the inheritor of an old tradition and the creator of a new culture, besides being a treasure trove of knowledge, value, wisdom and research.  The Department aims at bringing into light through research work, the philosophical wisdom, cultural glory and traditional art and architecture of Buddhist Kashmir, which is presently languishing in oblivion. There is enormous scope for research in Buddhist Art, Architecture, Iconography, Archaeology, and Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhism.