Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c15.s2.t54.3

v2.c15.s2.t54.3

Stricken by wanderlust since his childhood, Sankritiyayana visited almost all major parts of India but was most charmed by the Himalayan region. Besides that, he went to countries like Tibet, Sri Lanka, Iran, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union. His trips to Tibet between 1929 and 1938 were particularly fascinating. Defying all hurdles and risks to enter the forbidden land, he went there as a Buddhist monk and travelled far and wide visiting many monasteries and collecting rare Buddhist manuscripts from ancient Nalanda and Vikramshila which were preserved there. He wrote that 22 mules were required to carry the manuscripts and paintings. Several hundred bundles containing more than 7,000 manuscripts were deposited in a special section in Patna Museum alone.