The district administration of Jajpur has handed over around 85 acres of Government land at the Neulapur Hill to the State Tourism Department to build a 108-feet statue of lord Buddha at a cost of `15 crore.
District Collector Satya Kumar Mallick said on Thursday, “The Tourism Department will start construction works for the statue and a guesthouse and a museum at the site soon.”
“The objective of construction of the Buddha statue is to give a major thrust to cultural tourism. We will also build proper roads for tourists to visit the famous Buddhist sites of Ratnagiri, lalitagiri and Udayagiri in the district,” he said.
Jajpur has a rich Buddhist heritage with several important sites associated with the life of lord Buddha, which are of great interest for followers of Buddhism the world over. The statue of Buddha would project the Buddhist heritage of the State, said the Collector.
“As lord Buddha is the world’s pioneer and renowned apostle of peace, the main principle of his teachings is that all human beings are equal and have potential to become Buddha. That is why Buddhism is closely related with humanism. Buddha believed that the edifice of peace could be erected only on the foundation of love, compassion, tolerance, coexistence and nonviolence, which are keys to happiness and which, unfortunately, seem to be lacking among people, communities, societies and nations of the world at present. Buddhism unfolds before us the real path and ways to survive in this world with peace and serenity, for which we decided to build the Buddha statue, he added.
The district administration of Jajpur has handed over around 85 acres of Government land at the Neulapur Hill to the State Tourism Department to build a 108-feet statue of lord Buddha at a cost of `15 crore.
District Collector Satya Kumar Mallick said on Thursday, “The Tourism Department will start construction works for the statue and a guesthouse and a museum at the site soon.”
“The objective of construction of the Buddha statue is to give a major thrust to cultural tourism. We will also build proper roads for tourists to visit the famous Buddhist sites of Ratnagiri, lalitagiri and Udayagiri in the district,” he said.
Jajpur has a rich Buddhist heritage with several important sites associated with the life of lord Buddha, which are of great interest for followers of Buddhism the world over. The statue of Buddha would project the Buddhist heritage of the State, said the Collector.
“As lord Buddha is the world’s pioneer and renowned apostle of peace, the main principle of his teachings is that all human beings are equal and have potential to become Buddha. That is why Buddhism is closely related with humanism. Buddha believed that the edifice of peace could be erected only on the foundation of love, compassion, tolerance, coexistence and nonviolence, which are keys to happiness and which, unfortunately, seem to be lacking among people, communities, societies and nations of the world at present. Buddhism unfolds before us the real path and ways to survive in this world with peace and serenity, for which we decided to build the Buddha statue, he added.