There's a well-written article on Indian cosmology by Richard Gombrich here:
that may be of interest to your colleague.
Best,
Dominik Wujastyk
On 14 January 2012 23:03, Jo <jkirk@spro.net> wrote:Dear List,
A colleague not on this list agreed for me to post his query, sent originally to the risa-l list, on Indology. I hope he’ll get some answers here.
Thanks and best wishes,
Joanna Kirkpatrick
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> From: Joseph P. Elacqua <joseph.elacqua@gmail.com>
>
> Hello all.
>
> I have recently been looking into versions of the Hindu/Buddhist "map"
> of the world. By this, I mean the description of Jambudvipa as the
> central landmass in a series of concentric islands. I am not overly
> familiar with this schematic, but some Hindu sources I have
> encountered describe this variously as "Bhumandala" or "Bhuloka."
> While this diagram appears in the Matsya Purana (perhaps 250-500 CE),
> I am looking for references to or descriptions of this "map" in
> earlier Hindu or Buddhist sacred or secular texts. If anyone can
> point me to an earlier reference or possibly to a study on the
> origins of this diagram (preferably in English or Japanese language),
> I would be
extremely grateful.
>
> I also have a related, but alternate request. In my internet
> searching, I have encountered an (un-cited) image of the Indian world
> depicted as a four-petaled lotus of which Jambudvipa is the
> southernmost petal and Mount Meru is its central blossom. If anyone
> can point to a textual description matching this (or any remotely
> similar textual description), I would also be extremely grateful.
>
> Thank you very much for your assistance. My apologies if there is
> some major study on this topic that I have overlooked.
>
> Joseph P. Elacqua
> Mohawk Valley Community College