Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c10.29

c10.29

The Vo-Chanh inscription is adduced as an evidence of the prevalence of Buddhism in Champā in the second or third century A.D.³ So far as I can see there is nothing specifically Buddhist in this record. But the spread of Buddhism about this period almost all over the region is proved by the discovery of the images of Buddha of the Amarāvatī style in Siam, Annam, Sumatra, Java and Celebes. Some of the Buddhist sculptures in Siam reflect the primitive ideas of Buddhism, such as the representation of the Buddha by a symbol rather than his figure. All this indicates the introduction of Buddhism at an early date, possibly during the first two or three centuries of the Christian Era.