Cultural History of Eurasia: Future Aspects
Lewis Lancaster, ECAI and Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley, USA

The methods of study and research that divide Eurasia into Eastern and Western Civilizations are now under review.  Archaeological evidence has begun to challenge many assumptions about the boundaries of cultural spheres of influence.  For example, the Shang dynasty of China has been given authenticity by the discovery of oracle bones and the tombs of the elite. Uncovering the frozen caves of Siberia in the steppes requires a new examination of the nomadic cultures and their impact on the ancient centers of East Asia and the Mediterranean basin. The great challenge is how to bring this growing body of new data, not only into the study of the ancient world but also to the developments that have formed the present political and cultural realities. ECAI attempts to provide guidance for the use of digital technology such as GIS, Virtual Reality, and algorithms
of search, retrieval, and display into the development of our methods of study. The effectiveness of such research requires teamwork, collaborations, standards of best practices, interoperable metadata, and other community building activities for scholars.

Experiences from Developing the Royal Photo Archive
Rachabodin Suwannakanthi, The National Electronics and Computer Technology Center, Thailand

Thailand's grand celebrations of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's accession to the throne were organized throughout the year 2006.  The highlight of this celebration was during June 8, 2006 to June 13, 2006, when state and the royal ceremonies were held.  The Bureau of the Royal Household and The National Electronics and Computer Technology Center developed a royal photo archive system to publish high-resolution digital images of this occasion on the Internet.  Because many photographers contributed to the pool of digital photographs, and some of the cameras used did not use correct date and time settings, many of these digital photographs show an error date and time in EXIF information.  Another problem facing the archive system is the massive amount of traffic generated when the royal photo archive service was launched.  The web server had to serve about 14,000 unique visitors who requested about 43,000 page views per day  (average in July 2006; the highest statistic was on July 5, 2006, with 87,224 unique visitors who requested 266,784 pages in the archive).  These problems caused the server system to fail in service to visitors.  In conclusion, in the presentation I will share how we can solve these problems:  how we use free software to correct date and time, and creating a photo archive in a day.  The presentation will also cover the server tuning and system design to deal with more than 10,000 people who visit the website and download many high-resolution digital photographs.

The Way of Resettlement of Licchavis in the Kathmandu Valley and the History of the Rise of their State in Nepal
Lielukhine D.N., Oriental Institute RAS, Russia

In the report based on detailed research of original sources, the texts of epigraphy and the "Gopalarajavamshavali," chronicles of XIV century on Sanskrit and old Nevari, the author of the paper essentially offers a new reconstruction of events of gradual resettlement of the well-known clan of Licchavis from India to Nepal and a history of the formation of their state in a valley of Katmandu. The suggested reconstruction of events makes clear an area of findings of the Manadeva inscriptions and defines essentially a new direction of search of the new ones. Research of available sources allows for, also, the explanation of a number of important differences of inscriptions of the time of Manadeva from the inscriptions of his successors, which were a reflection of the features of the society modern to him.

Iconography of Namasagiti-Manjusri in Nepal
Sudan Shakya, Department of Buddhism, Shuchiin University, Japan
Conference Presentation

The Buddhist icons, especially the Tantric icons, are very artistic and symbolic as well. Generally, Buddhist icons are created according to the literatures and most of the icons preserved today are explained in various literatures. In Nepal, there is an abundance of icons scattered in Buddhist monasteries. The study of iconographies found in Nepal is essential, not only to understand the religious culture propagated there, but also to understand the rituals and philosophical aspects of that culture.

The main purpose of this paper is to introduce the cult and the icons of the Namasamgiti-Manjusri (NS-M) developed in Nepal. Namasamgiti (c. 700AD, NS) is one of the Buddhist Tantras that describes the characteristics of Manjusri through various names, as well as the benefits on reciting it. Manjusri is generally regarded as the deity of wisdom, but in the NS, he is interpreted as the Adibuddha, the supreme of the Buddhist pantheon. The NS cult is very popularly developed in Nepal, and is still chanted in the Buddhist temple twice a day: dawn and evening.

Though the icon of NS-M is said to be developed from the NS literature, there is no iconographical mention of it in the literature. In this paper, I’ll enumerate various icons of the one-headed twelve-armed NS-M and consider its origination. We can find a large number of NS-M scattered in various places of Nepal. They are in the form of sculptures, woodcarvings at arched doorways, and painted scrolls. Regarding the material used, they are stones, metal and wood as well. Focusing on the iconography of the NS-M will give a thumbnail sketch of iconography preserved in Nepal that contributes to understanding the originality of the religious culture developed in Nepal.

Mt. NamoBuddha and its Environs: A Legacy of Great Compassion
Min Bahadur Shakya and Umesh Chitrakar, Nagarjuna Institute, Nepal

The present paper explores the scenic beauty of the holy mountain called Namobuddha, located at a distance 40-50km east of Kathmandu/Nepal.

Namo Buddha (Homage to the Buddha!): At this power place, the King Mahasattva gave his body to a tigress. His reliquary-stupa remained underground until the Bhagavan (Sakyamuni) clapped his hands, and miraculously the stupa spontaneously appeared. Nepalese Buddhists claimed that this holy site is the actual place that is mentioned in the Jataka stories.

It is said that the stupa here enshrines the bones and hair of the Bodhisattva who, when practicing the deeds of a Bodhisattva, was moved to such pity at seeing a tigress ravaged by hunger that he sacrificed his body to her.

Namo Buddha is one of the principal places of pilgrimage for the Tibetans and Nepalese south of the Himalayas. Although scholars doubt the authenticity of this sight, devotees visit this place by the thousands every year with great devotion as a holy pilgrimage site.

Here the author will analyze its historicity, and explore legends and their sources. Also the author will try to give the description of surroundings and its environs. A retreat center has recently been established by Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche, utilizing its magnificent monastic buildings and facilities for the retreatants.

Here in this presentation, more than dozens of beautiful slides and pictures on the actual Namobuddha stupa, its environs, mountains, shrines and paintings concerning the theme will be presented.