Buddhist art in Maldives: temples and Buddha statues found there.

 Did you know the Maldives were Buddhist for 1,400+ years before becoming an Islamic nation?

Long before the white sand resorts and turquoise waters, the Maldives were a thriving Buddhist kingdom deeply connected to India and Sri Lanka.

 Archaeological discoveries that changed everything:

 1922 — British archaeologist H.C.P. Bell confirmed the existence of a pre-Islamic Buddhist civilization through the first professional excavations in the southern atolls.

 1984 — Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl uncovered ancient cowrie currency and 1,000-year-old Buddhist temples on Nilandhoo and Gaaf Gan islands. Many of these artifacts are now displayed at the National Museum in Malé.

 1996-1998 — The Kaashidhoo monastery dig revealed 64 temple structures across three occupation phases (200–1420 AD), including a jaw-dropping deposit of 62,000 cowrie shells — likely a religious offering! They even found remains of giant tortoises kept by the monks for ritual purposes.

 Key findings across 59 islands:

- Coral lingams and Hindu sculptures (pre-Buddhist era)

- Buddha statues in Mahayana and Vajrayana styles

- A bronze Buddha statue from Laamu Atoll

- A reliquary with proto-Bengali inscriptions matching those from India's famous Nalanda monastery

- The massive eastern Haddhunmathi (Laamu) monuments — the largest from the Buddhist period

 The cowrie connection: Maldivian cowries were used as currency as early as the 5th century AD and traded as far as Arctic Norway (found in Viking-era female graves!).

 The turning point: In 1153 AD, the last Buddhist king, Dhovemi, converted to Islam under the influence of an Arab traveler. Massive temple destructions followed, with fierce resistance on Nilandhoo island — the last to accept the new faith.

Today, this incredible heritage is documented in Egil Mikkelsen's recent book "The Archaeology of Buddhism in the Maldives" (2025), but many ruins still lie buried beneath the coral sands, waiting to be discovered.

The Maldives: more than paradise. A 1,400-year-old Buddhist story hidden beneath the waves.

AI was used only to correct the English and improve sentence structure. All other content is original.