Homeland of the Buddha is a guide for those visiting the major sites of Buddhism which lie on the great plain of the Ganges in India and Nepal. The main emphasis is the life of the Buddha; how each location was significant during his time; and how that history came to be known in the modern world. It is also useful for those who seek to know where and how the Buddha taught, two and a half thousand years ago.

Although it discusses some aspects of what the Buddha taught, it does not seek to be a book about Buddhism. A chapter is devoted to each site. The first section of each chapter summarises the reason why the place has Buddhist significance and details how the Buddha, and other individuals contributed to our knowledge of that place. The Today section of each chapter summarises what the modern traveller can see in each place, in the sequence that they experience them. Numerous maps and photos enliven the narrative.

Travel or Pilgrimage? Every visitor to India is changed, no matter how much, or how little, they may be cossetted by luxury, or how little they are attuned to the realities of life which India forces on them. It is a truism that India alters the way people think about themselves and their lives. In that sense any travel to India is a pilgrimage. How much more so therefore, when your travel is directed to walking the same paths as one of the world's greatest teachers and more so, if your intent is towards self-awareness. Whatever your intention, you can anticipate as you head to India, that the one who returns will be different from the one who left. When touring the homeland of the Buddha, we all carry the metaphorical staff of a pilgrim.

Homeland of the Buddha: A guide to Buddhist holy places of India and Nepal, John Tosan McKinnon, Pada Print, Paperback, 214 pp, $30.00

John McKinnon has visited the holy Buddhist places numerous times since the 1960s. For more than twenty years he has been a practitioner of Zen Buddhism. As a young man, he lived in the Mount Everest region, where he was the first doctor at Khunde Hospital. It was in Khunde that he developed an interest in Buddhism. Returning to New Zealand, John trained and practiced as an ophthalmologist. Since those early years he has been continuously involved with Sir Edmund Hillary's development work in Nepal. John's wife Diane, was a constant companion during that time. With her extensive knowledge of Nepal, Diane became a guide for trek-groups in the Himalaya, later starting her own company, Footprints Tours Ltd. Using her detailed interest in Asian textiles she took groups to visit the craftspeople of Asia. John often joined these groups to commentate on regional history and the art of Buddhism. Homeland of the Buddha brings this lifetime experience of Asia into focus as a practical, informative guide to the major Buddhist sites of India and Nepal.

CONTENTS: Homeland of the Buddha
Introduction	7
Varanasi	17
Sarnath	23
Bodhgaya	37
Rajgir	61
Nalanda	75
Patna	83
Vaishali	93
Kesariya & Pava (Fazilnagar)	105
Kushinagar	109
Gorakhpur	117
Being First: the Buddhist Arachaeologists	125
Lumbini	139
Tilaurkot: Nepalese--Kapilavastu	149
Ramagrama	165
Piprahwa: Indian--Kapilavastu	169
Shravasti	179
Sakasya	197
Suggested tour	203
Glossary	206
Acknowledgements	211
Bibliography	212
About the author	213