Middle Land, Middle Way: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Buddha’s India

The book opens with a note on names, explaining the use of Pāli spellings and variant place-names in India. The main introduction discusses the idea of the Middle Land, the early Buddhist geographical world, the political setting of Magadha, Kosala, Vajji, Kāsī, and other regions, and the historical tradition of pilgrimage to Buddhist sacred sites. It then presents notable pilgrims and restorers of Buddhist memory, including Aśoka, Fa Hien, Hiuen Tsiang, Dharmasvamin, Alexander Cunningham, Sir Edwin Arnold, and Anagarika Dharmapala. The introduction also explains key features of Buddhist art and architecture, such as stupas, railings, monasteries, Buddha images, mudrās, and the major artistic periods relevant to pilgrimage sites. The main body consists of sixteen site-based chapters: Lumbini, Kapilavatthu, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Gaya, Rajagaha, Nalanda, Patna, Vesali, Kosambi, Madhura, Gurpa, Lauriya Nandangarh, Barabar and Nagarjuni Hills, Savatthi, and Kusinara. Each chapter combines narrative history, textual references, archaeological description, practical guidance, and information on nearby locations.