About Lokesh Chandra
Lokesh Chandra (born 11 April 1927 in Ambala, India) is a prominent scholar of the Vedic period, Buddhism and the Indian arts. Between 1942 and 2004, he published 576 books and 286 articles. He has also held many official positions in the Indian government and was twice a member of Indian Parliament (during the period 1974–1980 and in 1980–1986). == Biography == Lokesh Chandra was born on 11 April 1927 in Ambala, India. He is the son of the famous Sanskrit scholar, linguist and politician Raghu Vira. After obtaining a master's degree at the University of the Punjab in Lahore in 1947, he edited the Gavamayana portion of the Vedic work Jaiminiya Brahmana with the help of newly discovered manuscripts. Chandra went to the Netherlands to study Old Javanese with the Indologist Jan Gonda at Utrecht University, where he obtained a Ph.D. with the dissertation Jaiminiya Brahmana of the Samaveda II.1-80 in March 1950. Among them are classics like his Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary, Materials for a History of Tibetan Literature, Buddhist Iconography of Tibet, and his Dictionary of Buddhist Art in 15 volumes. He is not only an eminent scholar, but has also held many official positions in the Indian government as a member of several committees: Education, Official Language, but also Tourism, Heavy Industry and many others, as his expertise was not limited to Buddhism and Indian Art, his favourite fields. He was also a member of the Indian Parliament twice (1974–1980) and (1980–1986).
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