"This book contributes to Southeast Asian surface archaeology, focusing on a region overlapping the modern boundaries of eastern Thailand and Laos, the Khorat Plateau, which was previously regarded as a peripheral zone between Mon-Dvaravati culture and Khmer stimulus from the south. . . Murphy’s ability to fluently describe lowland, riverine, and hilly geographic settings of remote and unfamiliar terrain is impressive, no doubt a product of extensive fieldwork."

Choice

“Drawing on nearly two decades of meticulous fieldwork, analysis, and interpretation, Murphy challenges conventional narratives that confine Buddhism’s vitality to imperial centers or established hubs of devotion. Instead, he reveals a richly textured monastic culture that flourished in the late first millennium across the river valleys and upland settlements of the Khorat Plateau—regions long overlooked by scholars and the public alike…. Buddhist Landscapes stands as a landmark achievement. It expands our understanding of early Southeast Asian Buddhism’s geographic spread and internal diversity, revealing a world where faith was inseparable from landscape and local culture. This book invites readers to see Buddhism not as a fixed tradition rooted only in famous temples and capitals but as a dynamic, evolving religion shaped by communities living in complex environments.”

Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

This book provides the most comprehensive study of the early Buddhist material and visual culture of the Khorat Plateau in Northeast Thailand and Central Laos. The images depicted on sima stones are not only evidence for some of the earliest Buddhist lineages, but also reflections of the people and their lives in the region from the 7th to the 11th centuries.

M.L. Pattaratorn Chirapravati, Visiting Professor, Nanyang Technological University

Explore the Khorat Plateau of the 7th to 11th centuries, where new forms of Buddhist organisation and practice were imagined and radiated out from Thailand’s Khorat Plateau. Guided by Murphy’s confident leadership through the art and archaeology, this landmark book offers a clear and compelling examination of a pivotal but difficult-to-study period.

Erik Davis, Professor of Religious Studies, Macalester College

Stephen Murphy blends archaeological sensibilities and data with art historical material to explore how Buddhism reshaped the Khorat Plateau in the 7th to 11th centuries. This integrative study builds a new premodern history of the region, and charts directions for future archaeological and art historical study.

Miriam Stark, Professor of Anthropology, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa