Representation Of Mahayana Buddhism in Mainstream Indian Media

Poonam Gaur; Amit Kumar

Representation Of Mahayana Buddhism in Mainstream Indian Media

Author(s)	Poonam Gaur, Amit Kumar
Country	India
Abstract	Buddhism originated in India about two thousand six hundred years ago. Siddhartha, a royal prince concerned by the sufferings of human life, left his home in search of truth and a solution to those sufferings. When he attained enlightenment after years of struggle, a new path, Buddhism, was born. Ideological conflict started in this new religion soon after the death of Siddhartha Gautama. In the Fourth Buddhist Council held about five hundred years after his death, Buddhism mainly divided into two sects – Hinayana and Mahayana. With time Mahayana spread to many parts of the world including India. But it is also true that gradually the separate identity of Buddhism started shrinking in India and it started mixing with Hinduism to a great extent. It was an interdisciplinary study that involved philosophy and mass communication. The main objective of this study was to understand the current discourse taking place on the philosophy and other aspects of Mahayana Buddhism in Indian society, the birthplace of this sect. We all know that the content appearing in the media largely reflects and guides the discussions taking place in that particular society, hence this study analyzes the coverage of Mahayana Buddhism in India's mainstream online media. To achieve the objectives of the study, both quantitative and qualitative approaches of content analysis method were used. The findings indicate that Mahayana Buddhism is receiving negligible media coverage in its birthplace. Most of the content being published about this sect in Indian online media is related to religious practices, events and philosophical aspects of Mahayana. After this, tourism and archaeological discoveries have also got some place. Some coverage related to legal disputes was also seen. Content dealing with philosophical aspects includes the development of the Mahayana sect, its philosophical uniqueness, its comparison with Hinduism, the paths it suggests for leading a better life, the principles of gender equality in this sect, its contribution to the development of Islamic Sufism, etc. News related to collaboration between Indian and foreign universities for academic research on Buddhism (including Mahayana philosophy) has also found some place. The coverage of Mahayana Buddhism was found to be visually rich. Adequate number of images were used in these materials.
Keywords	Mahayana Buddhism, Indian Mainstream Media, Representation, Philosophy, India
Field	Sociology > Journalism / Media
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 2, March-April 2025
Published On	2025-03-10

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Representation Of Mahayana Buddhism in Mainstream Indian Media

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