Bengali Buddhists
বাঙালি বৌদ্ধ Bangali Bouddho | |
|---|---|
Buddha Dhatu Zadi, a Buddhist temple in Bangladesh | |
| Total population | |
| 1,290,366 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Bangladesh | 1,007,468 (Bangladesh Census 2022) |
| India (West Bengal) | 282,898 |
| India (Tripura) | 125,182 |
| Languages | |
| Bengali | |
| Religion | |
| Buddhism (Theravada Buddhism) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bengali Muslims, Bengali Hindus, Bengali Christians | |
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| Buddhism |
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| Bengalis |
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Bengali Buddhists (Bengali: বাঙালি বৌদ্ধ) are a religious subgroup of the Bengalis who adhere to or practice the religion of Buddhism. Bengali Buddhist people mainly live in Bangladesh and Indian states West Bengal and Tripura.
Buddhism has a rich ancient heritage in Bengal. The region was a bastion of the ancient Buddhist Mauryan and Palan empires when the Mahayana and Vajrayana schools flourished. South-Eastern Bengal was ruled by the medieval Buddhist Kingdom of Mrauk U during the 16th and 17th centuries. The British Raj influenced the emergence of the modern community.
Today, Bengali Buddhists are followers of Theravāda Buddhism.