2007 Stories (26 Items)
Alert on Mahabodhi Temple Security
Town Commissioner dispells confusion over 'Building
Bylaws'
Tibetan Traders Spread out in Bodhgaya
Encroachments demolished in Bodhgaya
Action to be taken against encroachments
Administration starts to levy fines on encroachers
Differences between Hindi and English Press Coverage
of Stories
Bodhgaya Memorandum
Bodhgaya Master Plan Approved by Bihar Cabinet
Dainik Jagran's web presence becomes Jagran Yahoo!
India
Nagar Panchyat chief and 11 others prosecuted under
[legal code clause?] 107
Incidents of theft from Footpath shops increase
The Maitreya Project
Maitreya Statue Raises its Head again
Scuffle with Mahabodhi Temple Guards
Rumours and Accusations Run Rife
Dhammapada Translations
52,917 Foreign Visitors to Bodhgaya in 2006
Change of guard in Patna fails to rescue Bihar from
grip of lawlessness
Bodhgayanews Five Years Old today!
No News on Bodhgayanews
Buddha-land blossoms with Sri-Lankan Pilgrims
Maitreya project faces rough weather
Dalai Lama to Inaugurate Tourism Conference
'Alimentary' Hindi
'Buddhist Bonanza For India'?
Alert on Mahabodhi Temple Security
Bodhgaya (Jagran
Yahoo!) Dec 7, 2007. After the re-emergence of the incident concerning
the cutting of a branch of the Bodhi tree in the Mahabodhi temple compound
security has been heightened. Along with the security of the temple
a Magistrate has also been posted for surveillance of the Bodhi tree.
Bodhgaya Block Development Officer Anil Kumar said that apart from the
security guards already posted in the temple compound an additional
Magistrate, two assistants, a police officer and two police forces have
been additionally posted. The posting of the Magistrate, assistants
and police will be in three shifts for 24 hours a day. He said that
one Magistrate has been posted at the Eastern door to the compound.
He will have under his supervision the special circumstance of the opening
and closing of the door for the Tibetans while they are bringing materials
in and out for a puja. He said that ordinary people would not be allowed
in or out though the Eastern door. Pra. Vi. Pa. [i.e. prakhand vikas
padadhikari=Block Development officer) BDO Mr Kumar said that at night
there would be video monitoring in the temple compound, so that foreign
devotees practicing in the compound at night could be kept under surveillance.
He said that this special surveillance would be continued until the
next order issued by the District Magistrate and Temple Management Committee
Officer Jitendra Srivastav.
top
Town Commissioner dispells confusion over 'Building
Bylaws'
Bodhgaya, Dec 6 2007 (Jagran
Yahoo!).
The Town Commissioner S. P. Tivari on Thursday dispelled doubts cast
over the 'Building Bylaws' in regard to the Bodhgaya Master Plan. Giving
information to the people gathered in the meeting he said that it would
be regarded as having been in effect since the day it was drafted. He
said that no type of construction would remain within five hundred metres
of the Mahabodhi temple. He said that buildings more than 50 years old
would be left, which could be broken at the order of the Central Government.
[It is unclear whether this means that some buildings more than 50 years
old could also be demolished.-pgf].
He said that building owners should themselves take steps to remove
their constructions from the prohibited area. In the prohibited and
defined zones orders would be made by the board. He told people to construct
buildings according to the plans. He said plans should be made according
to the master plan. In the meeting Bodhgaya Hotel association and local
people and International Monastery people were present.
top
Tibetan Traders Spread out in Bodhgaya
Bodhgaya, Nov 23, (Jagran.Yahoo!).
Tibetan traders's trade is nowadays flourishing in the urban areas of
Bodhgaya. The eastern area of the Kalachakra field has been transformed
into the Himachal Pradesh town of Dharmshala. There from morning till
night national and international tourists can be seen strolling about.
In this area for as long as the tourist season lasts Tibetan traders
restaurants and refugee market are set up. On the one hand in the restaurants
the national and international tourists enjoy tasty foods, whilst in
the Refugee market there are crowds gathered to buy electronic goods,
beauty products and woollen fabrics. Meanwhile, the local evicted traders
are using push carts as mobile stores. Whilst the Tibetan traders are
gradually taking over the footpath outside the Tibetan temple. It is
reported that in the light of the order of the Magadh Divisional Commissioner
K. P. Ramayya the local administration is making a wholehearted effort
to prevent the setting up of any sort of stall on the footpath. To what
extent this is effective on the Tibetan traders is something which the
gaze of the evicted local traders is fixed upon.
top
Encroachments demolished in Bodhgaya

An image taken from the south side of the Kalachakra field facing
towards where Madras Café, some travel agencies, and the
Ram Sewak Tea Corner were located.
Taken October 15 (all images and captions courtesy of J. A. Rodriquez) |
|
4 November 2007, Melbourne, Peter Friedlander. Continued
reports are appearing in the Hindi press of actions against encroachments
in Gaya and Bodhgaya. This is part of an ongoing attempt by administrations
to remove encroachments which have been made on government land.
There is also a long history in Bodhgaya of periodic clearances
of street traders and demolition of buildings notified as encroachments
and the current round is another episode in this history. It is
often hard to get an impression from the news articles quite what
is really going on at the local level. I am including here some
pictures taken by J. A. Rodriquez related to the encroachment clearances
in Bodhgaya and subsequent demonstrations against them by local
residents, which give impressions of the results of the clearances
as seen in Bodhgaya. full set
of pictures |
top
Action to be taken against encroachments
October 15 2007 (Jagran
Yahoo!). Bodhgaya (Gaya). Nowadays there is a turmoil amongst the
footpath traders in Bodhgaya. After the announcement of the clearance
of encroachments on government land on Thursday by the Commissioner
K. P. Ramayya several shopkeepers felt themselves to be helpless. Whilst
some sought refuge in the court. But, about 80 percent of the footpath
shopkeepers have packed up their shops.
Meanwhile there has been an announcement by administration of action
against the traders who have not cleared their shops from the goverment
land. The Bodhgaya Block development officer Anil Kumar said that on
Saturday, due to it being Id [the Islamic festival], action
was not taken. From Sunday the forcible removal of encroachers from
goverment land, the payment of fines by them, and cases against them
of interfering with goverment operations would be registered. He said
that the administration was determined to liberate the government land
from encroachments. Mr Kumar said that land would be allotted behind
the Birla Dharmshala for the footpath shopkeepers. Earthworks are being
undertaken on that site. The shop keepers allotted places there would
not be have levies against them for two months. He said that those who
are removed from government land would be allotted by lottery on Sunday
land on the scale of 16 by 30 for big hotels, ordinary shops 10 by 15
and 8 by 10 feet. The BDO (Block Development Officer) said that the
shop keepers would have to set up their shops on the allotted locations.
top
[The following story relates to Gaya, rather than Bodhgaya, and shows
how Bodhgaya is not alone in being singled out for action against encroachments.-PGF]
Administration starts to levy fines
on encroachers
October 30 2007 (Jagran
Yahoo) Gaya. The administration fined several thousand rupees from
those encroaching on goverment land near the collectorate. The 'encroachment
removal' campaign is being led by the Commissioner K. P. Rammaya and
the [Gaya] BDO Pravin Vashista. Along with them are included Deputy
Mayor Akhauri Onkar Nath Shrivastav, alias Mohan Shrivastav, the DM
Jitendra Shrivastav, the SP Amit Jain, the SDO N. R. Tiwari, and the
additional City Commissioner Ramavatar Ram and other officers.
Fines were extracted from the Rajkumar 'Tilkut' [a type of sweet] shop
outside the treasury of one thousand rupees, and further fines from
several shopkeepers around the main entrance to the Kedarnath Market.
The administration also extracted fines of 100 rupees from the owner
of a Maruti Van and an assistant medical doctor for illegal parking
outside the main post office. The commissioner also warned shopkeepers
at the 'Bombay Sale' that there were customers parked illegally on the
street.
top
Differences between Hindi and English
Press Coverage of Stories
Melbourne, 30 October 2007 (Peter Friedlander). I recently had the opportunity
to go to the 36th annual conference on South Asia at the University
of Wisconsin in Madison. On October 14th I gave a paper there about
how the Hindi and English language press in India cover stories differently.
I started by saying "Hindi newspaper sales and readership have
grown immensely since 1991. Readership has increased from 29 per thousand
in 1991 to 69 per thousand in 2001 and has continued to grow up to the
present day. The National Readership Survey in 2006 estimated there
were 204 million readers of daily newspapers in India, and that 40 percent
(81.6 million) were readers of Hindi papers and 10 percent (20.4 million)
were readers of English papers. The top selling Hindi newspapers were
the Dainik Jagran (with 21.2 million readers) and Dainik Bhaskar (with
21 million readers). In comparison the biggest readership for an English
paper was the Times of India with 7.4 million. If you would like to
know more about what I said you can listen to the audio of my Madison
Conference talk (mp3 format, about 5mb, around 25 minutes).
top
Bodhgaya Memorandum
Melbourne, 30 October 2007 (Peter Friedlander). A group of concerned
academics, including Abhishek Singh Amar, Prabhat Krishna and David
Geary have sent a memorandum to Nitish Kumar the Chief Minister of Bihar
about the development plans for Bodhgaya. They started their memorandum
by saying, 'This Memorandum is a joint statement provided by three academic
scholars working on Bodhgaya. We are Abhishek Singh Amar (PhD Candidate)
from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies;
Prabhat Krishna (PhD Candidate) from the University of London, School
of Oriental and African Studies and David Geary (PhD Candidate) University
of British Columbia, Department of Anthropology, Canada. All three of
us are conducting research on different aspects [historical/archaeological,
legal and developmental/anthropological respectively] of Bodhgaya for
our respective PhD's and have spent considerable time at Bodhgaya in
recent years. We feel that given the sites increasing global importance
we may be of some assistance in offering a critical perspective and
suggestions that can be taken into account in order to ensure a sustainable
and prosperous future for this World Heritage site.' For more read the
full Bodhgaya memorandum (pdf format,
140kb).
top
Bodhgaya Master Plan Approved by Bihar Cabinet
24, October 2007 (Peter Friedlander). There was a report in the Hindustan
Patna edition on the 30th September on how the Bihar cabinet had approved
25 new proposals, including the Bodhgaya master plan. Concerning the
Master plan the news paper reports. 'To give an 'international look'
to Bodhgaya the cabinet has approved a master plan for the years 2005-2031.
In the plan the proposal is to increase the size of the city from its
present 1700 acres to 3307 acres. The new boundary of Bodhgaya in the
north will be up to Kendua and Khiryava. The new city's expanse in the
South will be to Mocharim and in the East to the Mahana river and in
the West to the Dhanadhava river. Regarding the Mahabodhi temple as
the centre the city has been divided into two special heritage sites,
'A' and 'B'.' for the full article follow this link to Hindustan
Dainik.
top
Dainik Jagran's web presence becomes Jagran
Yahoo! India
Melbourne (22 October 2007) Peter Friedlander. The leading Hindi daily
paper the Dainik Jagran has entered a partnership with Yahoo! India
and its Dainik Jagran website has now become Jagran Yahoo! India. One
effect of this is that any previous links to Dainik Jagran stories will
be to broken links. However, it seems to still be carrying local news
about Bodhgaya, although the navigation has taken me a while to get
used to and the number of stories seems to be much curtailed.
The first story from the new site I have read is given below. I have
heard separately that Kalicaran Yadav has lost his place on the temple
management committee, which is renewed every three years. I suspect
that the story below relates to the new order in Bodhgaya in which Kalicaran
Yadav is now a kind of opposition leader. Originally I believe he was
regarded as a supporter of Lalu Prasad Yadav, but in this article he
seems to be courting the support of the BJP. The background to the story
is that on October 11th the adminstration announced that it was going
to remove all the stalls which were encroachments on government land
and build a market for them behind the Birla Temple, which led to a
protest strike. I suspect that whilst the clearing of the government
land of encroachments is a good thing in some ways, it could only have
a negative effect on the traders whose previous locations on the main
streets would have delivered walk in sales but would now be suffering
due to being relocated to a less attractive location. However, as with
all stories of this type there are no doubt many possible ways of looking
at what is going on.
top
Nagar Panchyat chief and 11 others prosecuted
under [legal code clause?] 107
October 19, 2007 (Jagran
Yahoo! India) Bodhgaya. After traders took out a torchlight march
and sit in and demonstration following the demolition of buildings which
were encroachments in Bodhgaya the administration took action under
107 against the leader of the Nagar Panchayat (Local Council) Arti Devi
and 11 others. According to information received the main [administrative]
circle officer issued a notice which was enacted on Friday.
According to information received on the basis of a joint report from
Bodhgaya police station and block office action was taken against 11
people. Amongst whom were included the former secretary of the Bodhgaya
Temple Management Committee Kalicaran Yadav, Murari Singh, Markandey
Singh, Mejhadhar Singh, The head of the footpath [traders] union Shakeel
Akhtar, Safi Bhai Bedil and Jameel Akhtar. According to official sources
after the liberation of government land from illegal encroachments it
was alleged that without authorisation they organised a Torchlight march,
sit in and demonstration and using load speakers disturbed the peace.
Meanwhile the displaced foot path merchants in support of their demands
continued their dharna (sit down demonstration akin to a picket) on
Friday. In the evening the traders wearing black cloths took out a peace
march. Which moved through the various streets of the town. The demonstrating
traders also got the support of the BJP.
top
Incidents of theft from Footpath shops
increase
Bodhgaya, (Dainik
Jagran). 2007-10-06. Incidents of theft of brass objects from the
footpath shops along the wall of the Jayprakash Garden are on the increase
these days. According to reports received three shops have been robbed
this week. The shopkeepers report the thieves don't take stone statues
or beads etc., but only take away the brass bells and statues. The shopkeepers
view the thefts as minor and do not report them to the police. Due to
which the boldness of the thieves is increasing.
It is said that for years the shopkeepers were able to leave their good
tied down to their stalls. Then would open their stalls in the morning
and in the evening tie them down with rope and plastic sheeting. Due
to the increasing incidence of thefts the traders trading in cloth,
pots etc. are growing increasingly worried.
top
The Maitreya Project
Melbourne, 3 October, 2007 (Di Cousens). A crisis is building
in the small Indian town of Kushinagar, where the Buddha died and was
cremated 2500 years ago. Seven hundred and fifty acres of land is being
compulsorily acquired by the state government of Uttar Pradesh so as
to be leased to an entity called, ‘The Maitreya Project', principally
for the purpose of erecting a 500 foot statue of the future Buddha Maitreya.
read full article
top
Maitreya Statue Raises its Head again
Melbourne, September 12, 2007 (Peter Friedlander). There have been a
number of items appearing on the net recently about the Maitreya statue
project in Kushinagar, which was in the news on Jan
21 this year, and which was originally going to be built in Bodhgaya.
An article by Daniel Pepper from Kushinagar has appeared in both Scotland
on Sunday and the Christian
Science Monitor which says that in order for the statue to be built
'seven villages and between 15,000 and 20,000 people will be displaced
in the process'.
One of the people who has done much to bring this neglected story to
Western attention is Jessica Falcone, an American Anthopologist from
Cornell University. You can read her description of her experiences
related to the project in the Wild
River Review.
top
Scuffle with Mahabodhi Temple Guards
Bodhgaya (Gaya), July 26, 2007 (Dainik
Jagran). There was a scuffle between pilgrims who had come to worship
at the temple and the Security Guards appointed by the Temple Management
Committee and those posted by the SIS (?). The matter was resolved after
it was referred to the Police station. Circle Inspector sub-in-charge
V. P. Mehta said that on Thursday the Gaya inhabitant Mukesh Narang
brought some guests of his who had come from out of station to worship
at the temple. They brought their dog with them. The security guards
at the gate stopped them from entering and heading in the direction
of the central shrine. The guests of Mr Narang, who had come from elsewhere,
called the security guards 'Biharis' and said some insulting things.
Due to which the matter became heated. With one and another they started
by throwing insults (literally using the 'tu' form of personal address)
and then it progressed to fisticuffs. Mr Mehta said that once the matter
was brought to the police station it was solved at the level of a mutual
agreement.
top
Rumours and Accusations Run Rife
Melbourne, 27 June 2007, Peter Friedlander. Recently a number of stories
have been in the press about Bodhgaya. The first I saw was on a network
called CNN-IBN and claimed that NGO's in Bodhgaya were employing children
and harbouring 'child predators'. Read it for yourself and see what
you think on CNN-IBN.
The story was then picked up by the Organiser, the newspaper many people
associate with the RSS, see their article on the Organiser.
Then recently the controversy about whether a branch was illegally cut
from the tree and sold was again raised up, and publicised on Timesnew.tv
and Priyapal Bhante has recently sent me an email about it all, which
you can read here. Quite what to make
of it all is not clear, other than showing that the various groups interested
in Bodhgaya are once again stirring the rumour pot.
top
Dhammapada Translations
Melbourne, 27 June 2007, Peter Friedlander. Recent updates to this site
have been slow, sorry about that, I have been studying the Dhammapada.
I have put up a provisional list of Dhammapada
translations I have located so far. I also have found the oldest
English translation of the Dhammapada, from 1840, and put up a digital
copy of this remarkable document, it is called the "The
Footsteps of Relgion" (PDF, about 184K) translated by Daniel
Gogerly.
top
52,917 Foreign Visitors to Bodhgaya in 2006
Patna 19th May 2007. There is a great report on NewKerala.com about
visitors to India that includes data on Foreign visitors to Gaya, and
presumably to Bodhgaya."Patna, May 19: More than ten million tourists,
including 94,446 foreigners, visited Bihar last year. This was possible
despite the bifurcated state having limited infrastructural facilities
and not so encouraging law and order situation. Official sources, qouting
latest available figures here today, said of the total 1,07,64714 tourists
between January and December 2006, 20,12,647, including 3964 foreigners,
visited the capital city. This was followed by 11,40,108 tourists, including
3338 foreigners, visiting Gaya and 5,13,790, including 52,917 foreigners,
going to Bodhgaya last year." For the full report visit New
Kerala.com.
top
Change of guard in Patna
fails to rescue Bihar from grip of lawlessness
From Gulf
News, By Pamela Raghunath, Correspondent, 16/03/2007 12:00 AM (UAE)
Mumbai: It seemed like a perfect end to a day of sight-seeing in Bihar's
world famous tourist sites in Rajgir, Nalanda and Bodhgaya, an embodiment
of peace and tranquillity. And yet when we thanked Bhiku Bodhipala,
Chief Priest of Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee, for showing fellow
journalist Rahi Bhide and me the temple complex, he said we should arrange
police escort while returning to Patna. Earlier, when we set out in
the morning, our host, Governor of Bihar R.S. Gavai sent us off with
a constable, a state employee and a driver with a warning to return
before 11pm. He had informed us that 90 per cent of Bihar's law and
order problem was under control and only 10 per cent had to be tackled.
However, on Monday evening we got a taste of that 10 per cent of disorder
in that state, notorious for its crime and Naxalite problem. [Read the
full article on Gulf
News]
top
Bodhgayanews Five Years Old today!
Melbourne, March 15th, 2007, Peter Friedlander. I find it quite amazing
that five years have gone by while I have been running Bodhgayanews.
I established it when I was worried that people were not seeing the
context within which there was talk of erecting the giant Maitreya Buddha
statue. Five years on Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh is now the proposed
site of that project and in news you can see below you can see it is
not without controversy. Meanwhile Bodhgaya has been blessed, and cursed,
with being declared a World Heritage area. It is undoubtedly a blessing
in that it acknowledges the special nature of the place in the world
where all the Buddhas attain enlightenment. Sadly it is also a poisoned
chalice in my opinion as it has also attracted the attention of those
who wish to make money out of the dharma and want to turn Bodhgaya into
a kind of Buddhist 'Theme Park'. Meanwhile for the majority of the local
people the unending round of back breaking labour in all seasons continues
unabated and there does not seem to have been in any real change in
the dreadful poverty in the countryside around Bodhgaya.
top
No News on Bodhgayanews
Melbourne, March 14, 2007, Peter Friedlander. The web server for Bodhgayanews
has been experiencing difficulties which means I cannot access the site
to change it most of the time. Hopefully the problem will be corrected
soon as this is the first time I could access the site since February
3rd.
top
Buddha-land blossoms with Sri-Lankan Pilgrims
Bodhgaya, Sunday March 11th, (Dainik
Jagran). Nowadays the sacred land of the Buddha is blossoming with
pilgrims from Sri Lanka. After the ending of the famous three month
tourist season the hopes of local businessmen are pinned on Sri Lankan
Buddhist devotees. All classes of business are at one in this. The Sri
Lankan pilgrimage season starts in August and ends in March. Maneesh,
a trader who does business with the Sri Lankans says that the number
coming to bow their heads to the land of the Buddha has been greater
this year than in previous years. Which has been profitable to shopkeepers
and others. According to Maneesh about four and half thousand Sri Lankans
came between August and November. In Dec 06 and Jan 07 their number
has been negligible. But there has been a sudden rush of pilgrims from
Sri Lanka in February due to the inauguation of the proposed Jayshree
Mahabodhi Monastery by the Mahabodhi society of India and the display
of the relics of Sariputta and Moggalana the disciples of the Buddha.
He said that in February and up to the 9th March around three thousand
pilgrims visited Bodhgaya and other related sites. A very famous tour
operator from Sri Lanka is bringing its biggest group and it is possible
that apart from the big group about two thousand more Sri Lankan pilgrims
will visit by the end of this month.
On the other hand other traders reckon that due to the sudden drop in
the exchange rate for Sri Lankan currency less Sri Lankan tourists came
this season. Due to it being the 2550th anniversary of the Parinirvana
of the Buddha if there had not been a sudden drop in the exchange rate
for Sri Lankan currency then there would have been even more visitors.
top
Maitreya project
faces rough weather
Rajesh Kumar Singh (Hindustan
Times Lucknow edition ).
Lucknow, January 21, THE PROPOSED multi-crore Maitreya Buddha project
proposed in Kushinagar is facing stiff opposition from the farmers whose
land will be acquired under the project. They have planned to launch
an indefinite hunger strike from January 23 in this connection. Talking
to Hindustan Times, general secretary of the Bhoomi Bachao Sangharsh
Samiti (farmers organisation) Jitendra Patel said, the state government
planned to acquire 660.57 acres of fertile land in seven villages in
Kushinagar. 'Fertile land and houses of thousand of farmers would be
acquired under the project, which will make them landless as well as
homeless. We will oppose the acquisition tooth and nail,' Patel said.
Read the full article on the Hindustan
Times Website
top
Dalai Lama to Inaugurate Tourism Conference
Melbourne, February 3, 2007, Peter Friedlander. There is an interesting
piece in the Indian Express about how the Indian Government is asking
the Dalai Lama to inaugurate an international conference on tourism
to Buddhist sites in Bodhgaya which starts on February 4th. It also
mentions though how a Chinese Delegation walked out of a film show about
Buddhism made by the Bihar government because it included footage of
the Dalai Lama (read the full story on the Indian
Express site). So on the one hand the Indian government will want
to continue to support the Dalai Lama, both in his spiritual role and
as a tourist drawing card, and on the other the Chinese will no doubt
be less than happy about this. There are also mentions in the article
of the Chinese contributing heavily to the new Nalanda university project
and Chinese engineers working with Indian partners to build a Huen Tsang
memorial to open at Nalanda on Feb 10th where a Xuan Zang memoral hall
has already been set up (Huen Tsang and Xuan Zang are two spellings
for the name of a Chinese pilgrim who visited India in ancient times).
Read the full article at the Indian
Express.
top
'Alimentary' Hindi
Melbourne, 31 January 2007, Peter Friedlander. Over the Australian summer
break I put together a piece on basic Hindi which might be of interest
to people who like visiting Indian restaurants. The menu for the finished
document includes: