Developing Buddhist sites in Orissa (Re: Vesak Day message from United Nations)
Ananda
The Dhamma Times, 12 June 2004
Indo-Asian News Service, India - Three sites of religious significance to
Buddhism would be developed for tourists in the eastern Indian state of
Orissa.
The three sites make up a mini "golden triangle" of Orissa's Buddhist
legacy.
The state has over 50 ancient Buddhist sites and the Archaeological Survey
of India (ASI) plans to develop the three most important ones -- Ratnagiri,
Udayagiri and Lalitgiri, a senior official told IANS here.
"At Ratnagiri we are going to develop greenery around the site. Besides, we
will improve light and communication systems there," he said.
Ratnagiri is located about 90 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, in the
coastal district of Cuttack. A small hill near Ratnagiri village is a
treasure trove of ancient Buddhist monuments and other relics.
"We are going to build a museum at Lalitgiri at a cost of about Rs.7.5
million. We will develop the sculpture shed into a well-furnished museum."
The ASI has made a provision to build another museum at Udayagiri. Udayagiri
and Lalitgiri are located about 100 km and 85 km respectively from
Bhubaneswar.
"We will fence these three sites to thwart trespassers and improve drinking
water systems and lighting. ASI is spending Rs.20 million ($444,000) for the
facelift of these sites," the official said.
Excavators have found large domes, monasteries, sculptures and other
structures and objects of archaeological importance at the three sites in
recent years.
Kalinga, as Orissa was known in ancient times, formed an important
geographical niche between northern and southern India and maintained close
trade and cultural ties with Myanmar and Sri Lanka and other Indian Ocean
islands.
The turning point in Buddhist history came with emperor Asoka's conquest of
Kalinga in 261 B.C.
The emperor, who later converted to Buddhism after being disheartened by the
bloodshed he had witnessed i! n wars, sent his children to propagate
Buddhism in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka.
Recently some archaeologists had claimed that Lord Buddha, who founded
Buddhism, was born not in Nepal as is historically believed, but in an
Orissa village.
According to them, he was born in a village earlier known as Lumbini near
Kapileswar village on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar and not at Nepal's famous
Lumbini area. This claim has provoked anger and disgust in Nepal.
The state government had last year sent a proposal to the central
government, seeking Rs.250 million to develop ancient Buddhist sites for
tourism
Evelyn Ruut
news:cad1go$8ag$1...@mawar.singnet.com.sg...
> Art on Buddha is reawakening
> The Dhamma Times, 12 June 2004
>
in
> attic about two years ago.
>
> By Manya A. Brachear
>
>
> Chicago Tribune, United States - When a series of mysterious masterpieces
> was extracted from a pile of attic junk in the historic Hegeler Carus
> Mansion in LaSalle, site manager Nancy Barta had never seen artwork quite
> like it.
>
> The images, painted on silk in muted jewel tones, were exquisite. Each
> painting clearly portrayed a chapter from the life of the Buddha--his
birth,
> his enlightenment and his farewell to followers, where he is depicted in
> gilded scarlet robes, sitting beneath a canopy of trees and surrounded by
a
> golden mist.
>
> Initially, she simply wondered where to hang the works, slightly creased
and
> worn by time.
>
> But there have been many surprises for Barta as she oversees the
restoration
> of the mansion, formerly home to Paul Carus, the author of "The Gospel of
> Buddha from Old Records." Many scholars believe the text revolutionized
> modern Buddhism.
>
> "We're still uncovering things in the mansion," said Barta, a cradle
> Catholic from nearby Ottawa. "It just goes on and on. I learn something
new
> every day."
>
> With that in mind, Barta thought perhaps the paintings were more than
> decoration. Indeed they were.
>
> More than a century after "The Gospel of Buddha" was first published,
> experts have concluded that the 27 silk paintings were intended to
> illustrate the original landmark tome.
>
> Out of print for decades, "The Gospel of Buddha" will be rereleased this
> summer to include the recently discovered art, as well as scholars'
> reflections on Carus' contribution to modern Buddhism.
>
> Largely responsible for the new "Gospel" is Carus' grandson Blouke Carus,
> 76, whose aspirations of fostering interfaith dialogue are remarkably
> similar to those of his grandfather more than a century ago.
>
> "Once [readers] see the historical context, it will have a lot more value
to
> leaders to encourage associates and students to look at Buddhism as
> something genuine," said Blouke Carus, a retired chemical engineer from
Peru
> who chairs the Hegeler Carus Foundatio! n and Ca rus Publishing Co.
>
> Paul Carus was an instructor at Dresden Military Academy in Germany when,
in
> 1880, he published a pamphlet questioning the truth of the Holy
Scriptures.
> Criticized for his candor, Carus eventually immigrated to the United
States
> in 1885.
>
> But that candor also caught the eye of Edward Hegeler, a fellow German
> immigrant, scholar and owner of a LaSalle zinc works. He hired Carus to
> tutor his 10 children and take over Hegeler's hobby and passion, the Open
> Court Publishing Co.
>
> Attending the landmark 1893 World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago,
> Carus noticed a desire among participants to learn about Eastern thought,
> said Martin Verhoeven, an associate research professor at the Institute
for
> World Religions in Berkeley, Calif.
>
> "The Gospel of Buddha" was the result. The book was the first attempt to
> piece together translations of various Buddhist canons and publish them in
> biblical form--chapter and verse. Since Carus was the son of a Lutheran
> minister, it was also the first book to introduce the positive values of
> Buddhism through a Christian lens, a notable achievement at a time when
> Christian missionaries dismissed the Eastern philosophy as idolatry.
>
> "He was really trying to point to the importance of love, compassion,
> service, self-reliance, honesty, all things we identify as cardinal
virtues
> of Christianity," said Donald Lopez, a professor of Buddhism and Tibetan
> Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
>
> Also important to Carus was that readers could learn about a value system
> that left room for scientific explanations.
>
> "His goal in life was to make the world religions compatible with
science,"
> Blouke Carus said. "He saw it [Buddhism] as a major opportunity to adapt."
>
> Some scholars say not much has changed since his book was first published.
> Americans are still searching for spiritual harmony, they say, not to
> mention trying to fit Eastern thought into a Christian mold.
>
> "The `Gospel' is still a worthy endeavor to! look at ... as a document of
> historical import, but also as a mirror to sort of re-examine how we're
> doing now," Verhoeven said.
>
> It was Verhoeven who solved the mystery of the paintings by searching the
> Open Court archives housed at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
>
> In search of illustrations for "The Gospel," Carus had sponsored a
contest,
> offering $150 to the Japanese artist who could come up with a Buddha to
fit
> an American aesthetic. Japan's foremost painter Keichi Yamada, won the
> competition.
>
> But, Verhoeven said, the resulting paintings were not what Carus had in
> mind. The facial features and landscapes were undoubtedly Asian. And in
most
> of the work the Buddha sat, unengaged with his audience.
>
> Carus continued to call for entries and eventually came upon German artist
> Olga Kopetzky, who portrayed the Buddha with more European features and
> Christlike engagement--images Carus thought would have wider appeal in the
> U.S.
>
> Kopetzky's drawings were included in the book's seventh edition, published
> in 1915. Previous editions were unillustrated.
>
> Yamada's paintings remained in crates in the attic until a curious
caretaker
> opened them about two years ago.
>
> Rev. Dirk Ficca, executive director of the Council for a Parliament of the
> World Religions, said much progress has been made since Carus' time.
>
> "People increasingly have to think about who they are as religious people
in
> relation to people who are different from them," Ficca said.
>
> The latest edition of "The Gospel," he said, celebrates what Carus wished
> for but never witnessed--a reality of religions living peacefully side by
> side.
>
> Scholars and Carus' family are quick to point out that Carus sought not to
> promote Buddhism but to explain it.
>
> In the years after the 1893 parliament, he continued working toward its
> mission of interfaith understanding. He died in 1919, devastated by World
> War I.
>
> But his work has not gone unnoted. When the council gathers in Barcelona
in
> July, it! will pr esent the inaugural Paul Carus Award for Outstanding
> Contributions to the Interreligious Movement to Anglican Bishop McLeod
Baker
> Ochola II and the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, an interfaith
> peace movement in Uganda.
>
> "[Carus] was a visionary," Ficca said. "A person ahead of his time. How he
> envisioned understanding his impact in the world was fresh and
> powerful--there's a lesson for us in that."
>
Hey, Ananda! I have a copy of that book!
--
Regards,
Evelyn
(to reply to me personally, remove 'sox")