Buddhist Heritage, Culture, Community and Tourism

Nava Nalanda Mahavihara organised a one day workshop on “Engaged Buddhism” on the occasion of the World Tourism day on 27^th September, 2010

Nalanda and its vicinity is among few sacred places where Buddha made his sublime wanderings.  This land is bestowed with rich tangible and intangible Buddhist heritage and most of the heritage lies unprotected in the villages. Since long it was desired to devise programmes that could facilitate a mutually beneficial relationship between the heritage and the community. This was the guiding force for the conceptualization of The Department of Buddhist studies at Nava Nalanda Mahavihara.

“Mapping of Nalanda” is one such project conceptualised by the department to bring all the stakeholders of the heritage on one platform.

The broad objectives of the project are,

1. Document the tangible and Intangible Buddhist heritage of the Bihar
2. Conduct research studies to facilitate Revival of the Ancient Buddhist Pilgrimage
3. Involve the community in Heritage management
4. Share the finds of the study with the stakeholders

The objective of this workshop was to bring stakeholders of Buddhist heritage on one platform. Heritage leaders from all the villages where we have been working for last 5 years were invited to share their opinions and experience on how this long neglected heritage can be protected, restored and revived.

In past the NNM has conducted exhibitions, events and workshops to achieve the objectives of the project. In continuation, the department organized the one day workshop on “Buddhist Heritage, Culture, Community and Tourism” to take it a step further than the art and cultures conglomeration.   

Take part in the events of the day through the following pictures:

The workshop began with Mangal patth by the Bhikku Sangha

Welcoming the guests by offering  Khatta



Chief Guest Shri N. Dorjee being offered Khatta

In past few decades we have been  partially successful in invoking the interest of the world community  in Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, Vaishali and few other Buddhist sites but these few sites are a very small part of the big heritage that flourished for 2000 years in this part of India. The heritage has undergone many changes following the decline of the religion but as we are unearthing the structures and the facts, it needs proper interpretation and conservation. Documentation of the heritage in the modern world started in the 18th century as we know it today and we became an active participant since 2005; and continued documentation of the Buddhist Heritage spread around in villages of Nalanda.
The presentation was titled “Buddhist Heritage, Culture, Community and Tourism”.

Overtime and with the help of the community a vision plan was developed by reaching consensus on how we can best revive this ancient Buddhist pilgrimage by effectively sharing it and yet actively protecting it. This vision plan was a long process and it involved many stakeholders over a considerable time. This one day workshop was about sharing; the vision-plan that has been developed so far, with the stakeholders and receive their feedback to further fine-tune it and make it universally acceptable. 

The presentation was followed by the speeches by Shri R.S Tiwary (Former Secretary, Tourism, Government of Bihar), our Guest of Honour, Shri Nangzey Dorjee (Member Secretary), Mahabodhi temple our Chief Guest, Shri S.P Tarun (Former Education Minister, Bihar) and Dr. R Panth, Director Nava Nalanda Mahavihara.

The chief Guest Shri. N Dorjee offered coffee table book on Mahabodhi Temple to Dr. R. Panth

Another major component of this workshop was to launch the souvenirs that have recently been developed utilizing the local arts and crafts. The intention behind this move was to promote and preserve the inherent culture and make sure community directly benefits from the tourist activities while ensuring that the visitors get a true piece of art rather than a factory fabricated mass-produced article. This effort promotes a healthy symbiosis through which the local community shares a little peek with of the rural art and craft and the tourist carry a memorabilia which has true local roots.

The souvenirs are inspired by the antiquities found during the course of excavations of the heritage site in and around nalanda. These were valuable finds and required a lot of research in identification of suitable souvenirs that are meaningful, easily replicated by hand with the use of local materials and help showcase the heritage of Nalanda. Nava Nalanda Mahavihara Sanskritk Gram (NNMSG) put forth the budget and resources for all the research and in the development of suitable design products.

These were the steps involved:

1. An institutional setup for participation and capacity building of the stakeholders for community based tourism.
2. The identification, development, testing and  standardization of Community based tourism products.
3. Modules for awareness generation among the community on preservation of the tangible and intangible Buddhist heritage of Bihar.

Tourism provides a window of opportunity for the cultural exchange among the visitors and the host community. World Tourism Day was a perfect occasion to begin the new tourism season with new flavor, new colors and new products. At NNMSG the artisans experiment with the skills and come out with new souvenirs that have roots in our rich heritage. This year the artisans have designed few souvenirs based on the Buddhist theme with local roots.

These souvenirs were launched at the function.

Kusha Carpet for meditatinoers developed by cooperative women of Nalanda



 

The artisans from the cooperative being felicitated 

Launch of  the replica of "Nalanda Seal"

                                      

   Launch of terracotta Votive Stupa

                                      

Launch of Buddha Head and the resource person Rajendra Pandit who prepared it

The highlight of the function was talk by the Heritage leaders from various heritage villages in and around Nalanda. This included heritage leaders from, Chechar, Jethian, Gurpa, Parwati, Apsadh, Juafardih, Jagdishpur, Telhada and Pragbodhi. 

Shri Ram Pukar Singh from Chechar

Shri Ram Pukar Singh, has dedicated his life for drawing the attention of the authorities to protect the scattered heritage of chechar. Chechar like many other villages in the area indeed needs atention. Ihe place has a couple of stupa remains which are very important to the Buddhism history, one of them is Ananda's parinirvana stupa. Xuanzang and Fahein both visited this place as part of their pilgrimage to the Land of the Buddha. Shri Ram Pukar Singh has collected lots of antiquites from the fields by banks of ganges and has put them in a Museum that he maintains himself. He is a living example for all of us to emulate.

Shri Narendra Singh and Shri Jugal Singh from Parwati and Apsadh recieving memento from Dr Panth

Parwati is the site of Indrasaila Guha, where the Buddha frequented and it was here that he answered 42 questions of lord Sakra. Apsadh is a neighboring village full of antiquities and this village is mentioned in Pali sources as Ambasanda village. Buddha and the Sangha found patrons here.

Shri Narendra singh ji is a retired school teacher who is generating awareness about this heritage among the community and government. the parwati hill has remains of 4 beautiful stupas that needs protection.

 Jay Jay is a Korean, working in an International NGO "Join Together Society", JTS is working with the community in and around Pragbodhi Hill. The Pragbodhi is an important Buddhist site where Buddha did meditation few days before he finally attained BODHI under the bodhi tree, Bodh Gaya.

Rajesh and Arvind are youth from Gurpa, Gurpa hill is the place where Maha Kashyappa attained Parinirvana. Gurpa  is situated on the top of a hill and the pilgrims have to climbs about 1700 steps to the top, the provides a lots of potential for community involvment and we have made a  beginning here.

Vendors are ambassadors of heritage and visitors spend a lots of time with them and yet they were never thought as an integral part of the heritage and this reflected of unorganized mess created around the heritage sites of Bihar and infact most of India. We took a new initiative in Nalanda and involved vendors as an important component of community involvement programme here. There have been many mutually beneficial meetings with them in past and their response is truly encouraging.    

We also had representatives from village Juafardih, the site of Maha-Moggallana Parinirvana Stupa. One of the next few planned events is a Workshop at Stupa site on 5th December 2010. Moggallana attained parinirvana on New Moon day of Aghan (Nov-Dec) and this celebration will begin a new chapter of taking tourism beyond Nalanda Remains and revival of ancient Buddhist Pilgrimage.

 Shri. Sadhu Saran Singh, is from Jethian. Jethian is midway between Bodh Gaya to Rajgriha and it was here that Buddha was received by Bmbisara after the Buddha attained enlightenment.

A photographic exhibition “Echoes of the Footsteps of the Buddha” was also arranged on the occasion.

  

An Exhibition "Echoes of the Footsteps of the Buddha" was arranged for the visitors to appreciate the rich heritage of Nalanda and around. The department of Buddhist studies, NNM has been doing heritage spread around in villages of Bihar. the response was encouraging and in future we plan to design more such theme based exhibitions.

Dr. D. Lama, Head, Department of Buddhist Studies is the man behind the show

.

 

Dr. R. Panth is the Director of NNM and a guiding force behind this grand vision of revival of the Buddhist Pilgrimage.

"Engaged Buddhism" - a one day workshop

A one day workshop was organized at Nava Nalanda Mahavihara today (27th September 2010) on the occasion of world tourism day to familiarize the attendees with the popularly developing concept and abreast them with the progress so far and together setting a direction for future goals.

The event was successful in getting the right message out to its audience and more details about the workshop would be made available shortly.

Venerable Nyanissara visit to Juafardih (Ancient Kulika) the Village of Mahā Moggallāna

Venenerable Dr. Ashin Nyanissara, better known as Sitagu Sayadaw, originally belongs to Myanmar but he is recognized as an able monk in the Theravada Buddhist community and a community supporter throughout the World. To his own people he is best known for his elaborate and clear Dhamma preaching and on a community level for his water distribution project that delivered clean drinking water to over eight hundred monasteries and eight thousand residents of Sagaing Hills.

During his recent visit to India, he visited the village of Juafardih situated about 2 km west of “Remains of Ancient Nalanda University” on the 21st of April 2010. As we have been discussing about the history of Nalanda and its surroundings in the Nalanda-insatiable in offerings blog, Juafardih is the birth and nirvana place of Mahā Moggallāna, who is considered one of his chief disciple and the left hand of The Buddha in organizing the Sangha and Buddha’s teachings. Xuanzang visited Kulika (birth place of Mahā Moggallāna) in 7th century and left eyewitness account of the place during the time. More details about the village/site are found under the topic: kulika (xuanzang's travelogue) kolitgram (Pali sources)

Juafardih is an integral part of Nalanda’s history and many clues that we encounter while resurrecting the history lead us to Kulika as an important link. To bring text book information out to the real world, a participatory rural appraisal (PRA) was conducted among the community.

The community participated with vigor and it is the collective awareness that has now placed the site of Juafardih in the main stream and as a site to be developed and has also been included in the new Master Plan of Nalanda.

This site has been in discussion for quite some time and before the initiatives was taken at the grass root level, there were insinuation to include it as a part of the Nalanda circuit, and Chief Minister of Bihar in his visit to Nalanda in December 2009 made it a point to visit the site personally.
Read more about the visit: here

Visit of Ven. Nyanissara is yet another important milestone because it is the future vision that apart from the historic values of the place the current ambience of all such heritage villages which has important significance be conducive for tourists as well as Buddhist on pilgrimage. The Buddhist heritage of Bihar is so vast that government alone can’t bear the expenses to restore it the fullest and at these times the private investment blessed with Dhamma become important to the locals and the Buddhist community spread in rest of the world. Moreover this was an important pilgrimage place centuries ago and involving the Buddhist institutions in its revival should bring the inherent culture into the mainstream.

Dr Ravindra Pant, the Director of Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, discussed the possibility of collaboration with Ven. Nyanissara and he was pleased with this idea. Ven. Nyanissara visited the Stupa site at Juafardih and the community there welcomed him. He has shown willingness to take over the site for its restoration and adopt the village for various community welfare programs.

Among the few initial steps to increase the understanding of the site, a chanting event is being planned. As per the Buddhist texts Sāriputta attained Mahaparinirvana on Kartik Poornima (full moon day of Kartik month usually falls in October /November) (SA.iii.181; J.i.391) and 15days after him, that is, on the new-moon day of Aghan month (November-December) Mahā Moggallāna attained Parinirvana. The event under planning is for special Buddhist Chanting at the sacred Juafardih stupa site where as literatures suggests Maha Moggallana was cremated and his ashes enshrined. Venerable Nyanissara has taken the lead to provide the guidance for the occasion and the hope is that that this chanting becomes an annual event.

The association between Nava Nalanda Mahavihara with Ven. Nyanissara goes long and deep aside from their common roots. On the 27th of October 2008, Nav Nalanda Mahavihara revived its history of special convocation programme after almost 25 years. On this occasion two monks of great eminence Venerable Thick Nhat Hanh and Venerable Ashin Nanissara were conferred honoris Qausa Vidya Varadhi degree of the Mahavihara by His Excellency the Governor of Bihar cum Chancellor of the Mahavihara Sri R.L. Bhatia.

Rajgriha- Griyak peak- Ghosrawan- Tetrawan- Parwati- Nanand- Chandimau

The track from Rajgriha to Parwati has many sacred places along the way and CM visited a few of these spots and gave instructions to all concerned departments for early finish of the projects related with road, forestation and bridges. He inspected the ongoing work of three important bridges that when complete will reduce the travel time and distance between rajgir and Parwati.

Griyak peak Lat- 25° 01’, N, Long- 85° 30’ E)
Griyak peak is currently proposed to be the first spot between Rajgir and Parwati to be developed as tourist attraction.
The Griyak peak is one of the most massive structures in the region and is visible from distance.
It consists of a 25 ft brick pillar from gupta period and a massive cubical shaped rock structure with dimensions around 60 X 60 X 60 Meters. The evidences on the site suggest that this was once a very lively place with frequent monastic activities. This brick structure and the stone structure have witnessed some happening times during Gupta and Pala period as suggested by the massive remains.

The site is a must see for all Patrons of Buddhist art and architecture. It is about a 300-meter walk to the top of the hill where the stupa is situated and the views of river Panchane to its east are incredibly beautiful.

PIC: Discussing the giriyak Peak

Ghosrawan (Lat- 25° 05’, N, Long- 85° 34’ E)The mounds that were essentially the remains of huge religious structures were full of rich materials that were repurposed extensively by the newly settling populations. As per the Inscription discovered by Kittoe in 1848 amongst the ruins, this was the site of Vajrasana Vihara erected by Monk Viradeva. The inscription states that Monk Viradeva had earlier in his life studied in the monastery of Kanishka. He then found his way to this part of ancient Magadha where he stayed at a Vihara of Yasovarmanpur and was consequently appointed to govern the monastic establishment of Nalanda.
In the modern days the village is a popular destination for Hindu devotees. A big temple housing old pala period sculpture is under construction over an old temple. This temple is popularly called Asha Mata temple and on every Tuesday lots of devotees flock to sacrifice Goat. It is believed by performing such sacrifice at this temple wishes comes true.

PIC: temple at Ghosrawan

The central image at the temple is beautifully decorated and some colors have been applied to make it more conspicuous. As per the belief the Devi sculptures are generally covered with cloth and should not be removed. A big sculpture from the village is placed in Patna museum. There are many other sculptures big and small, pillars and other structural and architectural elements scattered through out the village is often found repurposed in many individual houses too.

Tetrawan (Lat- 25° 07’, N, Long- 85° 35’ E)
As per the Inscription found in village the place was once known as “Tenta-di-grama”. The size of the mound and the name suggests it was a monastic site. Main attraction of the village is a huge black stone Buddha in Bhumisparsh mudra. The size of image is almost 10 ft tall. And is one of the largest images in whole of the region. Lots of foreign pilgrims visit the place and the locals have constructed a temple with help of their contributions. The CM spent considerable amount of time with the community discussing how best we can use the surrounding. The place has two huge water bodies, which can be suitable for developing into a recreational area in order to attract more pilgrims.

PIC: Colosal buddha at Tetrawan

Parwati (Lat- 25° 05’, N, Long- 85° 38’ E)
The hansa stupa at the top of the hills is one of the most intact stupa which marks the site of sacrifice of a wild bird for the pious Bodhisattvas. The associated folklore goes like this, ‘One day a monk from the monastery saw a flock of wild geese flying overhead and he jokingly commented “today there is no breakfast for the brethren; the mahasattva must know the right time”. Before he finished speaking one of the wild geese dropped, all the monks were greatly moved by this selfless act and the goose was buried and this tope was erected over his body as a sign of great respect.

Buddha shared an invaluable insight with us humans at Indrasaila Guha, ‘Envy and selfishness has brought about hostility among beings. He further explained that the roots of such extreme emotions lie in desire.
The legend associated with this site is another example of the convoluted boundaries between modern day religions. It is said that once Sakka, the king of devas, also known as Indra, visited Buddha here and asked him to answer eight doubts about the mortal life on earth. Lord Buddha gave a discourse in response which is now preserved as Sakkapañha Sutta. Xuanzang mentions the presence of 42 lines inscribed in the cave in his travelogue.

Chandi Mau (Lat- 25° 03’, N, Long- 85° 29’ E)
& Nanand (Lat- 25° 05’, N, Long- 85° 30’ E)Either Nanand or Chandimau is the place associated with Sariputra. Antiquities of both the village is very rich and both the site deserves attention. The CM visited both the village and spoke to the community about the village being now part of the Parwati circuit, which is being developed at his instigation. ASI carried out an excavation at the site in 2001 and remains of a monastery were unearthed.
These sites were visited by Xuanzang and Fahien and they have left detailed account of these sites, and the antiquities of the area were confirmed when prominent orientalists visited here a couple of centuries ago.

Places visited by CM for revival of this circuit

Jethian- Lat- 24° 56’, N, Long- 85° 20’ E)
Jethian is associated with many events during the lifespan of Buddha. Xuanzang, the Chinese scholar spent almost 2 years here with an eminent monk Jayadeva and as expected has written extensively about the many spots associated with Buddha. Cunningham identified this site in 1871and then Auriel stein carried the work forward by identifying various the spots discussed by Xuanzang in his travelogue. The exploration and identification work is only partly accomplished as Jethian still has some mounds, an ancient tank and some pala period sculpture scattered that needs serious attention from an archeologist. A Japanese monastery has taken an initiative and built a small temple to house a beautiful Buddha sculpture. Things are progressing slowly on the path to self-reliance and the villagers from the Jethian Valley are prompted to take training and develop rural tourism related industry like home stay for tourists, supply local cuisine and encourage youths to take up responsibilities as escorts and guides in the area. Jethian has many sacred places in its vicinity where tourist can make day trips while maintaining their base there. Tapovan is about 3 Kms Southwest from Jethian and is one such spot which tourists might like to visit since this is where the Buddha often frequented. Tapovan has hot water springs and is a very sacred site for local population. Xuanzang in his travelogue refers to a stupa that was raised at the spot where Buddha walked. Auriel Stein in 1902 identified a 30 ft round 10 ft high mound as the particular stupa mentioned by Xuanzang. Village Kurkihar (Lat- 24° 48’, N, Long- 85° 12’ E) in the Jethian valley is about 40 Kms from Bodhgaya and is equidistant both from Rajgir and Bodh Gaya and this would be an ideal place to be developed as Night halt point for the pilgrims. The antiquities of the village are very rich and suggest that this village was probably the foundry of ancient Nalanda University.

PIC: Discussing importance of Jethian

Rajgir Valley-
The dense valley of Rajgir spans for almost 18 kilometer and falls under jurisdiction of two district administrations. Split half way through the middle a 9km stretch belongs to Gaya district and the other 9 Km to Nalanda. The Chief Minister ventured for a distance of about 9km inside the valley from rajgir end. The forest is home to a variety of flora and fauna and some of the trees and plants are of medicinal value too. The CM suggested that the valley needs to be conserved in its native state and it may be fenced in but at the same time be open to tourists who would like to visit it on a safari.

Sone Bhandar- Lat- 25° 00’ 25.72”, N, Long- 85° 25’ 00.48” E)
Sone Bhandar is a man made cave cut into a huge rock ledge, and poses to be a puzzling architecture in itself. As one exists from the 18 Km dense Rajgir valley, Sone Bhandar welcomes the visitor and have been doing so since the Mauryan era. The evidences suggest that this cave must have been built by Mauryan rulers they then donated it to the Jain followers. CM visited this place and was caught in its enigma and proposed that it should be further explored for a venue for the next annual Rajgir Mahotsav (Dec 5-6, 2010).

PIC: -exploring possibilities for rajgir mahotsava at Sone bhandara

Rajgir to Parwati
The next destination on CM’s agenda was yet another important place of Buddhist pilgrimage, prominent scholars including Xuanzang and Fahien visited it earlier in the millennia. It was Indrasaila guha situated near modern day Parwati. Current infrastructure provides no direct road link to Parwati and reaching the site is very time consuming. The 45 Km stretch from Rajgir to Parwati has many villages with rich antiquities and birthplace of Sariputra, the dhamma senapti of Buddha lies on this route. The purpose of the visit was to see the antiquities of the village and talk to community in this regard and to discuss possible shortest route to Parwati that would include all villages en route with significant heritage. Three bridges are under construction over River Panchane and Sakri to create a short route linking the entire heritage site. The CM personally visited all the bridge sites and urged for a speedy completion of the bridges.

Fig: A visit to the Bridge sites

Revival of the Bodh Gaya- Rajgir- Parwati, Pilgrim path

Siddhartha Gautam after enlightenment came to Rajgriha from Gaya and was received by Bimbisara somewhere near yasthivana (now Jethian). Xuanzang’s account describes the whole stretch from Bodh Gaya to Rajgriha scattered with auspicious spots associated with Buddha and his disciples, which were part of Buddhist pilgrimage at the time of his visit. This is further corroborated with the references of other travelogues. There are strong indications that suggest that this pilgrimage path was in frequent use till 14th century and abruptly came to an end without leaving any traces of its existence behind.
After the rediscovery of Buddhism in India and identification of places associated with Buddha, the path again came into focus but the condition of the 18km path was not suitable for the Pilgrims to tread.



One of the most important effect of CM’s visit to the area and realizing the underlined potential is the revival of the footsteps of Buddha trail that would also include this particular stretch. A 70 Km trail is now in the process of being developed as the first leg of “Engaged Buddhism”. In the initial phase, the CM visited five villages and the plan is to involve the entire community in developing tourism related recourses and build capacity for Guide services, home stays of tourists, handicrafts and souvenirs and not to mention some local cuisine would also be part of the palate.



CM asked District Magistrate of Gaya to get in touch with Buddhist monasteries and explore the possibilities of developing this pilgrimage route. He also assured that once the route is in service there would be ample security provided through deployment of necessary police force to ensure a safe walk through the Jethian valley. This 18Km stretch will be meant only for pedestrian traffic and no vehicle will be permitted on this route except for access to emergency vehicles.

A few monks visiting from South-East Asian countries were interested in taking this route in its present condition rather than waiting for a next trip in the hope of better road and travel conditions; CM respected the wishes of the monks and instructed the Gaya and Nalanda district administration to make necessary arrangements for their safe travel through the area.

Day after Christmas with COMMUNITY IN TELHADA

Telhada (Lat- 25° 13’, N, Long- 85° 10’ E)

CM visited Telhada the day after Christmas on the 26th of December 2009.
Telhada used to be the monastery of Pragynabhadra who was the chief abbot of this university which had 1000 students when Xuanzang stayed and studied here for two months in 640CE. As per Xuanzang’s account this monastery was constructed by the last king of Bimbisara linage. He further describes it in detail mentioning that this monastery had a 30ft stone sculpture at the centre. Almost whole of the village is settled over a big mound which is almost 30 Acres in size. There is a 30ft high stupa type mound in the west corner of the village and it is being excavated by state Archaeology department. This exploration work was brought to fruition because of Chief Minister’s visit to the area and his instigation to follow it through.
We have been working with the community of Telhada for last 4 years and two years ago we facilitated a suitable community based institution to take care of the heritage and tourism. And then taking it a step further developed a community museum to house all the sculpture scattered around village.



The people of the village are extremely enthusiastic about preserving their heritage and showcasing it in a way that can be shared with the connoisseur of the history and culture. Last year the villagers’ helped with the collection of these sculptures and the youth of the area played an extremely important role. In his earlier visits to Telhada CM had assured that Telhada be developed as a tourist destination. This excavation of the site is a concrete step towards a new chapter for the community participation and the community taking ownership of the heritage. The keen interest of the CM to revive the tourism potential of the area and making people proud of the heritage that they have preserved is a positive reinforcement and can be seen as an example to be followed by others who are in a position further a cause and make a difference.

CM took the same route as Bimbisara

Griddhkuta- Lat- 24° 59’ 55.81”, N, Long- 85° 26’ 14.17” E)

Griddhakuta as we know it today is the remains of an old monastery at the top of a hill. The concrete paved way to the top from the base of the hill is the same that was used by King Bimbisara when he used to visit Buddha. The hill has numerous small and big stone caves where Buddha and his associated took refuge from the harsh weather while meditating. There are accounts of each particular cave linked to various disciples of Buddha and has significant importance for the Bhikkhus following in their steps. The place is very important for Mahayanist all over the world and the Mahayanists consider that the first turning of wheel took place here. The place is also site where Buddha delivered sadharmpundrika sutta. A stupa was erected to mark this event and the stupa is still present. The base of the hill also has stone rests and caves where many important disciples of Buddha meditated.



It was proposed that a circumambulatory path is built around the remains of the monastery encompassing the top portion of the hill and making some of these caves more accessible at the base so that Buddhist pilgrims can visit the shrines and its sacredness can be shared more visiting tourists. The CM was very appreciative of the idea and he encouraged the fact that the community is taking a lead and proposing infrastructure improvements so showcase its heritage, he communicated to the state tourism department to proceed further with the construction of a circumambulatory path as per the proposal.



North of Griddhkuta on top of a separate hill is a massive brick stupa from the Ashoka period. Xuanzang points out that this stupa was built to mark the event when Buddha beheld the empire of Magadh and preached law for 7 consecutive days. There is no marked path to the top of the stupa and that makes in inaccessible for most visitors. There is also a Vishwa Shanti Stupa on an adjacent and it has a historic trolley system to take the visitors up the hill.
Since there no comprehensive plan for the heritage management and no mechanism for revenue generation, there are no new improvements done to develop the entire site. Currently, all a visitor needs to pay is vehicle parking charges at the bottom of the hill and that income goes out to the maintenance of existing infrastructure and no new improvements can be planned based on that little in flow on money with major monetary help from an external source. For tourism to be part of mainstream economic activity, we need a plan with upward spiral where there is scope for investment in the infrastructure to provide better facilities and in turn demand an entry fee or something like heritage zone fee to do the same.

The three destinations in the close vicinity provide ample opportunity to include in heritage zone comprising Griddhkuta, Vishwa Shanti Stupa and the Stupa on the North Hill.



If a spiral route could be developed at the initiative of the local community that would increase future prospects of many such sites, make visitors more demanding and receptive and Government officials will have to be more accountable.

CM’S walk through Veluwana

Veluvana- Lat- 25° 00’ 59.14”, N, Long- 85° 25’ 06.21”E)

Veluvana is the place where the tradition of Varsavaas started; it was devoted for the use of the Sangha by King Bimbisara and since then has witnessed many moments being turned into what we know as history today. This place being the hub of activities for several centuries holds immense potential for tourism. This place can be equally appealing for a regular visitor and the ones with the religious bent.

As per the Pali commentaries, the area of Veluvana was huge in comparison to its present spread. The Xuanzang travelogues describe Saptaparni cave situated amidst dense veluvana, and that reinforces the claimed suggested by Pali literatures. In last few centuries the land use has changed a lot and the dense forest cover in the area are now totally lost. It is the sincere hope of the community that with the renewed interest in the area and attention showered by the CM, the area would see a new dawn with restoration work and improved maintenance to these historic sites. This will help conserve the heritage and boost tourist flows while providing new avenues for livelihood opportunities. There have been discussions for developing the site further so that its original purpose could be restored and Buddhist monks can do Varsavaas here.

The veluvana is the site were the Varsavaas started and first 3 Varsavaas of Buddha happened here and it would be a unique tribute to the Buddha and the tradition if Veluvana is established again to serve its intended purpose.

CM’S HIKE TO TOP OF VAIBHARA HILL

Saptaparni Cave- (Lat- 25° 00’ 37.20”, N, Long- 85° 24’. 43.81” E)

The morning of 28th December found CM walking all way to the top of the Vaibhara hill. The one hour hike to the top of Vaibhara hill was laden with scared spots for many faiths including Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. From top the view was clear and the CM was able to observe many important sites situated at the base of the hill. He also got the bird’s eye view of Ashokan relic stupa and Ajatsatru new fort. Since the Vaibhara hill at the time of Xuanzang and fahien was a dense bamboo forest, CM instigated that the complete hill be restored to a bamboo forest and instructed the forest officer to sow the seeds for the same this following season. The access path to Vaibhara hill in its crumbling state received attention and is now on its way for the necessary repair work. On the top of the hill, there is an ancient temple from gupta period, CM was stunned by the dilapidated state of such valuable piece of history and culture and assured a facelift of the temple.

Picture 1: Climbing the Vaibhara Hill

The Saptaparni on the top of Vaibhara hill is the site as identified by Beglar, the one identified by Marshal is at the foot of the hill. CM saw the other Saptaparni site up close through binoculars.

Picture 2: At Saptapanni

In the list of suggestions to his team to explore further was the idea that the complete Vaibhara hill and the base of the foothill be developed as a bamboo grove.

Picture 3: CM greeting the Jain monks on Vaibhara Hill

CM’S VISIT TO NALANDA

Nalanda (Lat- 25° 08’, N, Long- 85° 25’ E)

It was an early Sunday morning on 27th of December; the light of dawn barely hit the red brick structures when the CM along with his team visited the remains of ancient nalanda university. CM listened to the history, the exploration process and the present situation of the ruins as they stand, during the discussion on site he came up with few suggestions on development of new interpretation plan, weaving the stories through the archeological evidences and development of suitable signage so that even a lay person could identify with the heritage. He seemed very interested in the proper exposure of the site and developing the proposed Xuanzang Avenue linking of Juafardih and Rukmanisthan with Nalanda remains and opening up the western face of ancient remains of nalanda. Interpretation of Nalanda becomes more comprehensible once Rukmanisthan and Juafardih are included in its description. While Juafardih was once an outhouse of Nalanda sangharama, Rukmanisthan was the place where last students took hiding when Nalanda was attacked by Turks invaders. These facts about the new sites built up a complete picture and interest the visitors to look beyond the established patterns.

Picture 1: At Nalanda University

There is a big mound at the centre of Juafardih village which was excavated in 2007. The antiquities and the excavation find suggest that Juafardih is the site of ancient Kulika, the birth place of Mahamogallan an important disciple of Buddha. As per Xuanzang the stupa was erected by King Ashoka over the body relics of Moggallana. CM inquired about the exact distance between Juafardih and Nalanda, and also about the heritage tanks and gave necessary guidelines for its renovation. Tourism department is preparing a site plan for the newly excavated site which will be implemented soon.

Picture 2: At the remains of Nalanda University

Also, there is a detailed plan being formulated by the department of tourism, government of Bihar, which is based on the original master plan that we shared here in the blog, to help showcase the heritage of Nalanda and pave way for the rural tourism to the heritage villages. This plan would take into account the development of the sites that have already been identified and would place a system in progress for all future discoveries.

CHIEF MINISTER’S 6-DAY TRIP TO OUR AREA (26TH DEC 2009 THRU 31ST DEC 2009)

As we have been discussing in the past many posts, a master plan was in the works with the help of the community and on 22nd October we had the opportunity to make a presentation to honorable Chief Minister of Bihar state, Shri Nitish Kumar. The presentation mainly focused on the historical and archeological gems scattered throughout Nalanda and the potential it holds for the community to benefit from tourism and make it a sustainable source of livelihood.

Picture1: During the presentation on 22nd October 2009

It was a great opportunity to be able to share our detailed plan with a person who was in a position to make direct impact to the lives of many others. The presentation was a virtual journey that the CM took with us and he was intrigued enough to explore the possibilities of the area and planned a six day trip to visit the sites discussed in the presentation.


The interest that Shri Nitish Kumar showed and the initiative that he took was remarkable and on many notes similar to the one that king Ashok must have taken to popularize the pilgrimage and now in the modern world as we realize how much we have left behind in the past, this is an effort to revive the pilgrimage and brush away the dirt accumulated over the footsteps of Buddha over the course of history.

The presentation must have ignited something in Mr. Nitish Kumar’s spirit as the first thing that he uttered after landing at Rajgriha was, ‘ …we have come here to revive the old Buddhist pilgrimage path and work on the action plan prepared by Nava Nalanda Mahavihara’.
It was great honor for us and the community who had helped us put it together that our work was acknowledged and is now being chosen to be carried forward by experts in the field. Such recognition would allow more communities to take the initiative.

He further added that the government is going to set up a “Bihar Virasat Vikas Samiti” which will prepare a detailed action plan for the protection and preservation of the heritage of Bihar and study scope of tourism development through the heritage.

Picture 2: CM's arrival at Rajgriha

The CM spent almost a week visiting the remote and not yet popular archeological sites, he met with the experts and the local community to chart out a route so that the infrastructure that the community needs could be provided, new possibilities could be explored and the pride and heritage of Nalanda is restored.
 

Picture 3: CM and his team visiting the new facilities for tourists at Hot water springs