The aim of this, the 2nd conference of the BuddhistRoad project, is to investigate different aspects of material culture and transfer in and between the Central Asian Buddhist communities during the 6–14th centuries, as well as dealing with issues relating to ritual and religious practices. Material transfer includes the exchange of iconographical models and religious imagery, book culture, cave sanctuaries, etc. Ritual practices as conceived here is meant to focus on the transmission, formulation and re-formulation of salient forms of ritual performances, including meditation and visualisation. Given that rituals generally take place in prearranged, ritual spaces, it is in the nature of things that a certain overlapping between material culture and ritual practices has taken place in Central Asian Buddhism, something that is also likely to be borne out in a number of the presentations.

It is hoped that a more inclusive approach afforded by the two overarching topics of the conference will assist us in the formulation of new methods of research.