The path to Buddha

There are six million Tibetans living in Tibet. Buddhism is an integral part of their daily lives, for both monks and lay Tibetans, who take arduous journeys in pilgrimage to holy sites to express their spirituality and devotion. Award-winning photographer, Steve McCurry, has followed their trials and captured their dedication.

Tibet has suffered extreme political turmoil and upheaval over the last fifty or so years. It was occupied in 1950, when Red Guards destroyed thousands of official buildings and holy places during the Cultural Revolution, and religious freedom and traditional education is still severely under threat. Due to the strength of the Tibetan's faith in Buddha and the Dalai Lama, and against the odds, many buildings have been reconstructed and their devotion and belief have remained extraordinarily strong. Buddhism permeates every part of a Tibetan's life, whether they are the Tibetans living in Tibet or the hundreds of thousands who live away from their homeland, in Nepal, India or the United States.

The Path to Buddha looks at the religious and lay Buddhists on their pilgrimages to holy sites. In the two main chapters of the book, we see the monks in animated discussion, meditation and prayer, and follow the devout believers on their arduous journeys to prayer. These two chapters are interspersed with sections of portraits of this proud and dignified people who have their own innate sense of style and fashion demonstrated in the way they dress and adorn themselves.

World-renowned for his beautiful and uplifting imagery and soulful portraits, Steve McCurry's new book The Path to Buddha offers an intimate insight into a unique and dignified culture.