Telangana: Buddhavanam to celebrate Buddha Jayanthi on Friday
The celebrations at Buddhavanam will begin from 10 am with chanting and Buddhavandana prayer by Buddhist Monks from Mahabodhi Buddhavihara, Mahendra Hills.
Hyderabad: Buddhavanam, the Buddhist Heritage Theme park at Nagarjuna Sagar, is all set to celebrate Buddha Jayanthi on a grand scale on Friday.
As part of the celebrations, a huge car rally with 200 cars would be conducted from the towering 125 feet statue of Dr BR Ambedkar at Hussain Sagar to Buddhavanam. It is being organized by the Buddhist Society of India-Telangana Branch for the first time and Tourism Minister V Srinivas Goud will flag off the rally at 7.45 am.
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Buddhavanam project Special Officer Mallepalli Laxmaiah said that all the arrangements were made to celebrate Buddha Jayanthi on a grand scale.
The celebrations at Buddhavanam will begin from 10 am with chanting and Buddhavandana prayer by Buddhist Monks from Mahabodhi Buddhavihara, Mahendra Hills, Secunderabad and Tibetan Buddhist Monks from Bailukuppe, Mysuru followed by the inauguration of a free Tibetan Buddhist Medical camp by former UGC Chairman Prof.Sukhadeo Thorat, he said.
The evening session of the celebrations will begin at 5 pm with Buddhist chantings followed by a discourse on the significance of Buddha Jayanthi by Ven.Sanghapala Bhante, a special talk on ‘Philosophy of Buddhism: Its relevance for society inclusive nationhood and Democracy in India’ by Thorat. The event will end with Illumination of the Buddhavanam by the dignitaries in which a large number of Buddhists and general public will participate.
The first of its kind in India, the theme park consists of an entrance plaza with ambient Buddhist sculptures, the Buddha Charithavanam in which the five great events from the life of Siddhartha-Gautama are displayed in bronze sculptures, Jatakavanam with 40 Narratives stone sculptures of the Jataka stories, Dhyanavanam with a replica of 27 ft Avukana Buddha Statue in cement, Stupavanam in which 13 scale model stupas of India and south East Asian countries are created and the 100 ft high and 200.0 ft dia Mahastupa, embellished with more than 1000 lime stone panels depicting Buddhist symbols, Buddha and his mission, Acharya Nagarjuna and Vajrayana Buddhist sculptures.
There is a Regional Buddhist Heritage Museum in the Ground floor, with a view to enhance the experience of the Buddhist tourists visiting the famous Nagarjuna Sagar Konda and Nagarjuna Sagar.
Laxmaiah thanked Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and Tourism Minister V Srinivas Goud for releasing funds for the Buddhavanam project and also for conservation works and providing tourist amenities at Nelakondapalli Buddhist stupa in Khammam and rock-cut Buddhist caves and stupas at Karukonda in Kothagudem district as part of development of a mega Buddhist tourism circuit in Telangana.
