GOVERNMENT MOVE OVER GAUTAM BUDDH RELICS RAKES UP ROW
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Govt move over Buddha relics rakes up row
Panel says give them to Zee chief's pagoda; experts put up resistance
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
New Delhi, February 10 - Over 2,550 years after Buddha attained
'parinirvana', India is debating whether to give up control over His
relics --- housed in museums under the Ministry of Culture -- and
move them into the community's hands.
A government panel has recommended shifting of the revered remains.
The biggest beneficiary of the move would be the Global Vipassana
Foundation and Pagoda in Mumbai, whose president Subhash Chandra,
also Zee Entertainment Enterprises chief, is a member of the
committee the government constituted two years ago to examine the
existing system of upkeep of Buddhist relics and recommend changes.
The 62 Buddhist relics excavated by ASI at 12 places are currently
housed in museums and 'viharas' where they were found in UP, Bihar,
West Bengal, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, MP, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Delhi.
These are in the nature of whole or part of skeletons, bones or
teeth, ashes and hair.
Now after eight heated sittings since October 3, 2008, the committee,
headed by former Planning Commission member Bhalchandra Mungekar, in
its final draft report, ignores much of the criticism in the panel of
moving Buddha's relics to Vipassana Foundation and recommends: "It
could be desirable to seek a few relics to the Global Pagoda in
Mumbai as it would be according to the wishes of Lord Buddha and;
secondly, due to the durability of the Pagoda's structure and
ambience".
The justification is that the existing system of preservation of
relics in various museums under the Ministry of Culture is not in
consonance with the wishes of Lord Buddha, who wanted the relics
preserved in separate 'stupas'.
Strangely, the draft report which saw stormy discussions hinting at a
lack of consensus on the issue today, failed to include dissenting
notes by two experts on the panel -- Shantam Seth of Ahimsa Trust, a
Buddhist institution, and Mridula Mukherjee, director, Nehru Memorial
Museum and Library. Both reportedly sought that their dissension to
the movement of relics -- in whole or part to Vipassana foundation
(located next to Essel World in Mumbai) -- be recorded in the final
report to be submitted to the government for consideration.
Chandra for his part kept citing Buddha's "wishes" to say that His
relics be given to Vipassana for safety and durability. "Around 51
organisations of Buddhist culture have given the consent to hand over
relics to the Pagoda," Chandra told the committee.
Documents with The Tribune further show that panel chairperson
Mungekar was often supportive of Chandra, saying at one point that
the "Centre might have taken a wrong decision in keeping the relics
in museums� These can't be kept in museums perpetually as it was
against Buddha's own direction in the matter."
Most experts, however, want status quo on relics until the government
makes an alternative arrangement to house them in 'stupas'. Seth is
opposing the movement of shifting them to Global Pagoda saying it
would open the Pandora's Box of competing claims. "Moreover, museums
are neutral places for Buddha's divine remains," he noted before the
panel.
Mukherjee argued that removing relics from their contact would be
incorrect. In panel meetings, she even countered Chandra's claim of
accessibility, saying: "Concentrating relics at one place won't solve
the purpose of easy accessibility to people in a vast country like
ours."
Documents further reveal how even DG, ASI KN Shrivastava opposed the
handing over of relics to Pagoda, saying the move was against the
Cabinet Committee of Political Affairs' decision of 1991 barring
religious use of centrally protected monuments. "Removing relics from
site of recovery is against international standards. Also, relics
need close chemical monitoring and controlled atmospheric conditions
which exist only in museums," he said. But Chandra and his supporter
Seema Aggarwal, another Vipassana representative on the panel, kept
arguing that they only wanted to preserve the relics and not the
ownership.
Entire relics in possession of the government should be given to the
Vipassana Foundation as it this is the biggest organisation in the
world which preserves Vipassana, the ancient technique which is the
quintessence of Buddhist teaching, they said. In one pro-Vipassana
argument, Agarwal even said there was no building in India as
appropriate as the Global Vipassana Pagoda. "We don't see any being
built - in magnificence, in stature (it is 325 feet high), in
longevity (will last over 2000 years). Therefore, Global Pagoda
should be, indisputably, the choice for enshrinement of the relics,"
she said while clarifying to an unfavourable note of Culture
Ministry.
On its part, the government appears wary of any recommendation to
move the relics to a single body. "The very idea of moving the relics
out of government custody to an institution built by millions of US
dollars is to me vague. Also, how do we correctly interpret in modern
times what Buddha said 2550 years ago," said a government officer.
The final committee report is expected shortly.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100211/main7.htm
Indigenous tribute to the Buddha
Rahi Gaikwad
- Photo: Vivek Bendre
Work in progress: The world's largest stone dome, Global Vipassana
Pagoda, near Mumbai.
Mumbai: Your eyes struggle to grasp the sense of vastness that greets
you on stepping inside the dome. Sounds of hammer and chisel echo
around in layers. Outside, away from the riotous sounds and smells of
Mumbai, many pairs of hands are at work. Towering above them,
ensconced in scaffolding, is the Global Vipassana Pagoda. One of the
largest stone monuments in Asia is in its final stages of completion.
Modelled on the lines of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda in Yangon, the Indian
version aspires to pay homage to the Buddha and his teachings. It
also stands as a tribute to Myanmar, which has through history
cherished Buddhist secularist traditions and thought.
The structure stands at an imposing 325 feet. Its dome, with a
diameter of 280 feet, is the world's largest stone dome. There are no
supporting pillars.
Located on the green peninsular landscape of Gorai, the pagoda is an
ambitious undertaking. It is a pinkish structure of sandstone brought
from Jodhpur, cut and dressed.
The stone blocks were assembled in Mumbai using the technique of
interlocking, thus making it an indigenous architectural marvel in
its own right.
"We have used only stone and limewater. No cement or steel. We want
the structure to last for at least a thousand years," says Madan
Mutha, who supervises the project.
Many heads have come together to conceptualise, plan and erect the
pagoda. A team of Sompuras experts in ornate stone were engaged for
their know-how. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai was
one of the consultants. IIT Chennai is working to improve the
acoustics inside the dome.
The interior of the dome is a large meditation hall, a seamless
expanse designed to accommodate 8,000 meditators. A giant golden
wheel or the Dhamma Chakra is set in the centre from the inside. A
four-tonne keystone bears Buddha relics. Two small pagodas outside
the main one will also serve as meditation centres.
Large quantities of stone and much human effort have gone into the
making of the pagoda. The foundation itself took 3,000 truckloads of
stone, 1,000 truckloads of sand and 40,000 person-hours.
The estimated cost of construction is Rs. 80 crore, raised through
donations. The site, which will be open to the public by the second
week of February, covers an area of 11 acres.
The land was donated by a Vipassana student. The project has been
spearheaded by the Global Vipassana Foundation.
Apart from being a wonder in stone, the pagoda is set to be an
embodiment of the "non-sectarian, rational process of mental
purification thorough self-observation" that is Vipassana.
End of forwarded message from Y. M.
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
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