Lokesh Chandra (born 11 April 1927 in

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-are ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

) is a prominent scholar of the

Vedic period The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (ca. 1300–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, betwe ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

and the Indian arts. Between 1942 and 2004, he published 576 books and 286 articles. He has also held many official positions in the Indian government and was twice a member of Indian Parliament (1974-1980) and (1980-1986).

Biography

Lokesh Chandra was born on 11 April 1927 in

. He is the son of the famous

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

scholar, linguist and politician Raghu Vira. After obtaining a master's degree at the

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

in 1947, he edited the Gavamayana portion of the Vedic work Jaiminiya Brahmana with the help of newly discovered manuscripts. Chandra went to the Netherlands to study Old Javanese with the Indologist

Jan Gonda Jan Gonda (14 April 1905 – 28 July 1991) was a Dutch Indologist and the first Utrecht professor of Sanskrit. He was born in Gouda, in the Netherlands, and died in Utrecht. He studied with Willem Caland at Rijksuniversiteit, Utrecht (since 1990 ...

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

, where he obtained a Ph.D. with the dissertation ''Jaiminiya Brahmana of the Samaveda II.1-80'' in March 1950. Among them are classics like his ''Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary'', ''Materials for a History of Tibetan Literature'', ''Buddhist Iconography of Tibet'', and his ''Dictionary of Buddhist Art'' in 15 volumes. He is not only an eminent scholar, but has also held many official positions in the Indian government as a member of several committees: Education, Official Language, but also Tourism, Heavy Industry and many others, as his expertise was not limited to Buddhism and Indian Art, his favourite fields. He was also a member of the Indian Parliament twice (1974-1980) and (1980-1986). In 2006 he was conferred with

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

by the Indian Government. He was the president of

Indian Council for Cultural Relations The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 Apri ...

during 2014–2017. He has also served as a member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

, Vice-President of the

, and Chairman of the

Indian Council of Historical Research The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is a captive body of the Ministry of Education, Government of India established by an Administrative Order. The body has provided financial assistance to historians and scholars through fellowshi ...

. and 11 September 2021.

Works

Between

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

and 2004, Lokesh Chandra published numerous books (alone or as co-author) and articles, totalling 862 publications. While it is not possible to reproduce an exhaustive list, here are some of the most frequently cited.

Books

*''Titbetan-Sanskrit Dictionary'' in 12+7 volumes, New Delhi, International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 1961, reprint in 1971, 1991, 1993 . * ''Nīlakaṇṭha Lokeśvara as the Buddhist apotheosis of Hari-hara'', New Delhi, International Academy of Indian Culture, 1979, 18p. * ''The Thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara, Volume1'', New Delhi, Abhinav Publications, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1988, 303 p., . * ''Dictionary of Buddhist Iconography''. Śata-pitaka series: Indo-Asian literatures in 15 volumes, New Delhi, Published by International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 1999-2005, . *''India's Contributions to World Thought and Culture'' (Collective work edited by Lokesh Chandra), Madras, Publishers: Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee, 1971, 838 p. *''Transcendental Art of Tibet'', New Delhi, Published by International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 1996, 234 p. . * ''Cultural Horizons of India: Studies in Tantra and Buddhism, art and archaeology, language and literature (Śata-pitaka series :Indo-Asian literatures in 7 volumes n° : 361, 366, 370, 381, 388, 390, 391), New Delhi, Published by International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 1990-1998, (ISBN of the 1st volume). * ''Kāranda-vyūha-sūtra or The supernal virtues of Avalokiteśvara'', New Delhi, International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan, 1999, 295 p, . * With Raghu Vira, ''Gilgit Buddhist Manuscripts.'' Śata-pitaka series in 10 vol. Revised and Enlarged Compact Facsimile Edition. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1959–74, reprint in 1995 (3 volumes) by Sri Satguru Publishers, and . * With Sharada Rani, ''Mudras in Japan'',. Volume 243 of Śata-pitaka series :Indo-Asian literatures, New Delhi, 1978 (Reprint :Vedams eBooks in 2001), 302 p. .

Articles

* ''The Origin of Avalokitesvara'', Indologica Taurinenaia, publié par International Association of Sanskrit Studies , Volume XIII, p. 187-202,(1985-1986). * ''Origin of The Avalokiteśvara of Potala'', A journal of Himalayan Studies, 1979..

References

External links