The intercity express was late by three hours. Govind and I were on our way to Deoria and from there to Kushinagar to do some site visits.
Kushinagar is about 3-4 hours away from Kaithi, near Nepal border. This is the place where Buddha died and was cremated. Archaeological excavations led to the discovery of the reclining Buddha.
A temple has been built to house the statue and " his bones" as the Intelligent Man (for reasons I cannot reveal his identity. Suffice to say he is a lawyer and works on RTI in Kushinagar area)told me in a awed voice.
Kushinagar is a tourist spot revered by the Buddhists worldwide. So the government has been kind enough to guarantee it electricity supply twenty four hours.
There is also a dream to build a 152 meter tall Buddha in this area. A private global trust called Maitreyi trust is sponsoring this activity. The Buddha statue would be cast in bronze and would sit atop a 17-storey building. Besides the statue, the trust has also promised to build hotel, meditation center, and a hospital. For this venture, land would be acquired from the farmers. The entire project has the blessings of the Chief Minister of UP.
I can understand the hospital part, especially if it would serve the need of the people of that region. But truly, if there is so much money floating around, can't we use it for better purpose than to build a statue that would supposedly rival that of the Bamiyan Buddha?
If immortality is the issue, where people centuries later would look at the statue in awe and remember the person who built it, we just need to remember Ozymandias.
Or is it as Karl Marx put it "Religion is the opium of the masses". You give religion to the people and they will forget to ask pertinent questions?
There has been massive opposition to the project and for the time being there is a stalemate. But who knows?
3 comments:
The problem is not the statue: if I want to spend my own money building one, then I should be allowed to do so, notwithstanding the fact that many might think it a waste. In our own daily lives, most of us indulge in some expenditure or the other (that fancy piece of jewellery, that new expensive laptop etc. etc.) which others would see as a "waste."
The problem lies in the fact that land will have to be acquired for this project. And to get this land, the project wants to use the coercive power of the UP state: in other words, force the farmers to sell their land at a nominal rate. In return, the project "promises" that a hospital (and hotel and meditation centre) will be built for that area. Unfortunately, once the land is taken away, there is no redress for the farmers, even if the project fails to fulfill its "hospital" commitments.
I remember reading a few years back that the Apollo Hospital in Delhi had acquired land from the Delhi Government at a subsidized rate by promising to treat a certain number of poor patients "free." The hospital was being accused of not carrying out its commitments. Now I don't know whether the accusation was true or not but if this is what can happen with Apollo Hospitals, then...well, I am sceptical that this alleged hospital in Kushinagar will amount to much.
Suresh, I agree that the major problem is taking the land away from the farmers. As we know, the government will promise compensation but it will not happen. The hospital will not serve the people of the region...it has happened not only in the case of Apollo Hospital but also in case of private schools. All the private schools including DPS, Springdales, were given land in Delhi on the understanding that they will reserve certain seats for the children of the economically underprivileged children. For 40 years no action was taken till the Social Jurists filed a PIL in the court. Now Social Jurists as well as Asha is trying to get the schools to accept the children into their classes. But it is a uphill task where many times the only way we can make the school comply with the court ruling is to file cases against the non-complying schools.
Interesting blog, it reminds me of Wat Pho in Bangkok , although the reclining Buddha looks like someone relaxing on a sofa, it is actually a representation of Buddha’s last moments on earth during his illness.
I tried to write a blog about it, hope you also like it in https://stenote.blogspot.com/2020/06/bangkok-at-wat-pho.html?m=0
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