The Buddhists of the Maniabandha area have recently submitted a memorandum to Governor SC Jamir through the Tehsildar of Baramba with several demands, including correction of their identification as Saraka in tehsil records, issue of minority certificate, insertion of Buddha statue at the ninth place of Dasavatara at the Jagannath Temple Mukhasala at Puri, declaration of Baisakhi Purnima as a holiday and its inclusion in the official list, opening up of a Buddhist minority university and teaching on the Buddhist religion.
They said they have been associated with weaving since long which is a symbol of non-violence.
They said that their handicraft is popular across the globe and had attracted many foreign dignitaries including Chinese traveller Huen Tsang in the seventh century AD.
During the thirteenth century AD, when Brahmins reigned supreme in Hindu society, the Buddhists were given a raw deal and the Maniabandhi Buddhists feared to identify them as Buddhists, they said.
After Buddha was admitted as the ninth incarnation of lord Vishnu, these people established them here in a free manner. After creation of Baramba estate, its ruler had given patronage to the handicraft of the Buddhists and ordered them to live in the kingdom.
According to sources, the Buddhists had migrated from Bardhaman district of West Bengal, when the Nandi, Patra and Dutta-titled people were humiliated and tortured by other title holders in the seventh century AD. These title holders came to Maniabandha, Nuapatna, Ragadi, Mahammedpur and Rasrasikpur of Cuttack district and settled there.