HT, Patna 11-02-09
Mahathera's mortal remains consigned to flames
Gaya, Feb. 10
MORTAL REMAINS of 79-years-old Dr. Rashtrapal Mahathera were consigned to flames at International Meditation Centre (IMC), Bodh Gaya on Tuesday. Mahathera died on December 22. since then, the embalmed body had been kept for the last darshan (glimpse) of the devout.
Dr. Rashtrapal Mahathera, an international meditation teacher of repute and supreme patriarch of Indian Buddhism called Sangharaja, was also the founder of IMC. His disciples lit the funeral pyre.
Earlier, a dhamma sabha, presided over by IMC general secretary Dr. Varasambodhi Thera was held for the peace of the departed soul. Around 4,000 persons from different countries, including the UK, the US, Japan, Bangla Desh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Taiwan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Indonesia and different parts of India, besides representatives of the Buddhist monasteries at Bodh Gaya participated in the funeral.
Although this was the first instance of display of the body for the benefit of the devout, the IMC general secretary said it was a routine Buddhist tradition.
Mahathera was born on April 25, 1930 in Chittagaonj, now in Bangla Desh. He authored at least 18 books and did his Ph.D. from Magadh University on the thesis, 'God and Goddesses in Pali Tipiutika'. His books included Glory of Bodh Gaya, A guide to mind purification – Bipasana, Psychological approach to Buddhist meditation, etc. The Burmese government had honoured him with Agga Mahasaddhamma Jotikaddhaja award in 2004 and the All India Bhikkhu Sangha (AIBS) had conferred on him the title, Tipitaka Mahapundit, in 2008. Mahathera also held key posts in different organizations. He was general secretary of the International Buddhist Council, an organization of ordinary Buddhist devotees, besides being the third Sangharaja of Bharatiya Sangharaja Bhikkhu Mahasabha and was also a member of Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC) for two terms.
Friday, April 10, 2009
lchi Monstery
HT, Patna Feb. 08, 2009
Alchi all over
Fabulous photos of the paintings in this 11th century Ladakhi monastery will travel to Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore from the National Museum, New Delhi.
Some years ago, I was lucky enough to see the murals at the Alchi Gompa (monastery) on the banks of the Sindhu in adakh, a drive of about 67 km to the West of Leh (the great river is known locally as 'Sengge-Chu', the Lion River, 'sengge' being the Ladakhi variant of the Sanskrit 'simha' for 'lion'). Outwardly, Alchi is a silent, peaceful cluster of typically gompa-like buildings, white, rimmed with dark red about the roofs. As is often the case in an Indian sacred site, the pat segues into the present without effort because of the living faith that vivifies out holy places. So a visitor feels automatically loved and included in the sacred space of this 11th century monastery. The calm and quiet is especially refreshing and the complete absence of offering sellers, souvenir sellers and dirt!
Alchi's temples hide softly shimmering murals of Buddhist themes, painted in both bold jewel colours and subtle tints. It was the Ladakhi leader Rinchen Zangpo who is said to have brought in thirty-two artists of various crafts from Kashmir in the 11th century CE to decorate, in the 'Gandhara' school of art, the 108 monasteries he built in the Kailash-Mansarovar belt.
This form of art originated and prevailed in north-west India between the seventh and 11th centuries when that region was a 'Bauddha Bhumi' (A Buddhist region). The art subsequently spread to Tibet, Nepal, Central Asia and in the Western Himalayas. Ladakh also has colossal rock-cut images of the Buddha that were the forerunners of the Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban at Bamiyan.
Experts say that the miniature scale paintings at Alchi "exceed in beauty and variety" those in Tabo in Himachal Pradesh and Tholing in western Tibet, the two complexes created by Rinchen Zangpo at the same time as Alchi.
This show, of 150 photographs, offers a vivid glimpse of Alchi to those cannot go just yet to Ladakh. They offer a gracious, energetic and beautiful world view and the viewer may find great pleasure in contemplating them quietly with the cellphone switched off and the everyday mind left at the museum door. Like life, art has different bandwidths, and India, fortunately, has appreciative room in law and civil society and importantly, in Indian heads, for all these experiences (think of what befell the Buddhas at Bamiyan and look again at Alchi's treasures with gratitude). Indeed, it is hard not to think of Bamiyan when Peshawar is virtually in Taliban hands now.
We owe this glimpse of our national treasures to the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (CIBS), Leh, which celebrates its golden jubilee this year.
This exhibition of the crest-jewel of Ladakhi Buddhist art, is the first event, in collaboration with the National Museum, New Delhi and the Likir Gompa, Leh.
The key person behind the exhibition is Dr Nawang Tsering, Principal, CIBS.
The celebrations will culminate on October 23, 2009, on the institute's campus, on its founding day. This show is on view at the National Museum until February 5 after which it will move to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai and then to Kolkata and Bangalore.
Alchi all over
Fabulous photos of the paintings in this 11th century Ladakhi monastery will travel to Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore from the National Museum, New Delhi.
Some years ago, I was lucky enough to see the murals at the Alchi Gompa (monastery) on the banks of the Sindhu in adakh, a drive of about 67 km to the West of Leh (the great river is known locally as 'Sengge-Chu', the Lion River, 'sengge' being the Ladakhi variant of the Sanskrit 'simha' for 'lion'). Outwardly, Alchi is a silent, peaceful cluster of typically gompa-like buildings, white, rimmed with dark red about the roofs. As is often the case in an Indian sacred site, the pat segues into the present without effort because of the living faith that vivifies out holy places. So a visitor feels automatically loved and included in the sacred space of this 11th century monastery. The calm and quiet is especially refreshing and the complete absence of offering sellers, souvenir sellers and dirt!
Alchi's temples hide softly shimmering murals of Buddhist themes, painted in both bold jewel colours and subtle tints. It was the Ladakhi leader Rinchen Zangpo who is said to have brought in thirty-two artists of various crafts from Kashmir in the 11th century CE to decorate, in the 'Gandhara' school of art, the 108 monasteries he built in the Kailash-Mansarovar belt.
This form of art originated and prevailed in north-west India between the seventh and 11th centuries when that region was a 'Bauddha Bhumi' (A Buddhist region). The art subsequently spread to Tibet, Nepal, Central Asia and in the Western Himalayas. Ladakh also has colossal rock-cut images of the Buddha that were the forerunners of the Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban at Bamiyan.
Experts say that the miniature scale paintings at Alchi "exceed in beauty and variety" those in Tabo in Himachal Pradesh and Tholing in western Tibet, the two complexes created by Rinchen Zangpo at the same time as Alchi.
This show, of 150 photographs, offers a vivid glimpse of Alchi to those cannot go just yet to Ladakh. They offer a gracious, energetic and beautiful world view and the viewer may find great pleasure in contemplating them quietly with the cellphone switched off and the everyday mind left at the museum door. Like life, art has different bandwidths, and India, fortunately, has appreciative room in law and civil society and importantly, in Indian heads, for all these experiences (think of what befell the Buddhas at Bamiyan and look again at Alchi's treasures with gratitude). Indeed, it is hard not to think of Bamiyan when Peshawar is virtually in Taliban hands now.
We owe this glimpse of our national treasures to the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (CIBS), Leh, which celebrates its golden jubilee this year.
This exhibition of the crest-jewel of Ladakhi Buddhist art, is the first event, in collaboration with the National Museum, New Delhi and the Likir Gompa, Leh.
The key person behind the exhibition is Dr Nawang Tsering, Principal, CIBS.
The celebrations will culminate on October 23, 2009, on the institute's campus, on its founding day. This show is on view at the National Museum until February 5 after which it will move to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai and then to Kolkata and Bangalore.
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