The state government has allotted 25 acres of land to International Buddhist Monks Charitable Trust for establishing the proposed Nalanda Knowledge and Study Centre at Uttavalli village in the taluk.
Addressing media persons here, Trust secretary Bhodidatta Banteji said, the study centre will be modelled on the famed Nalanda University, in Bihar. The centre will be used for study and research by Buddhist monks. Separate buildings for the public meditation, training in arts and culture and also a separate division for the study and research on Dr Ambedkar. The centre will also have a free residential school of CBSE curriculum, he said. The centre will be open for all communities, castes and religions, he said.
The university will emulate the Nalanda architectural style. Buddhist monks and students from Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Burma, Thailand and other countries will visit the university for study and research activities. The state government has already released Rs 10 crore for the university, he added.
Buddha statue
The centre will also have 108-feet tall Buddha statue and 84-feet Sanchi Stupa, which will be an added attraction, he said. Establishing centre on Nalanda model takes a lot of time and requires crores of rupees. Funds will be raised from the people, organisations, religious trusts and from philanthropists from India and foreign countries, he added.
Buddha’s remains
According to Bodhidatta Bantheji of Nalanda Buddha Vihara, Mauryan emperor Ashoka divided the remains of Buddha into 84,000 fragments, of which a few parts were taken by her daughter Sangamithra to Sri Lanka. The remains present in Chamarajanagar were brought from Somathi Boudha Vihar in Srilanka in 2008, he said.
Sanchi Stupa will house the remains of Buddha.
Published 07 August 2017, 18:16 IST