IT is very much recorded in the ancient records and indigenous chronicles of this land that Buddhism once had been the most popular religion of Kashmir and northern Buddhism was not only cultivated here but reshaped and reformed some where here in the period of Kanishka in about 1st century AD. Although these days hardly any Buddhist population is found in Kashmir valley but in ancient times a considerable number of kashmiries have been following this faith. Kashmir has been one of the most important centers for the spread and development of Buddhism. Buddhism was an important part of the classical Kashmiri culture, as is reflected in the Nilamata Purana and the Kalhana's Rajatarangini.