Buddha Vihar Gulbarga
Buddha Vihara ( Budh Vihar), located six kilometers away from Gulbarga, adjacent to the Gulbarga University campus has transformed Gulbarga to a major Buddhist pilgrim center when it was dedicated to the nation by the former President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil and the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet in January 2009. The Buddha Vihar complex blends the best of architectural features of eminent Buddhist centers of Sanchi, Sarnath, Ajanta and Nagpur and has been constructed conforming to traditional Buddhist architecture by the Siddartha Vihar Trust at the cost of more than Rs 8 crores. It is one of the biggest Buddhist centers in the country and is worth a visit not only to obtain peace and inner happiness but also to check out the remarkable architecture, the beautiful, sprawling complex as well as the innumerable attractions here. This one-of-a-kind spiritual center is also a great tourist attraction, a center of creativity and research. The Buddha Vihar serves as a great tribute to Buddha, Basava and Ambedkar who are revered social reformers.The construction of Budh Vihar commenced in 2002. Originally conceived as a small center, the trust changed the blueprint to transform it into a huge complex spread across 18 acres. Artisans, craftsmen and carpenters from Bangalore (Bengaluru), Gulbarga, Mysore, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan have worked for years to make this dream project a reality. This gigantic monument has been described as a link between tradition and modernity. One of the Buddhist centers of pilgrimage and learning, Sannathi in Gulbarga is of great historical significance. King Ashoka sent his son Mahindra and daughter Sanghamitra as his emissaries to spread Buddhism in this region. There is a village named after Kanakamuni, one of the Panchdhyani Buddhas near Sannathi. The Archaeological Society of India has excavated the ruins of a Buddhist stupa in a nearby village. Archaeologists also found seven Buddha statues dating back to the 3rd century BC in Sannathi in addition to statues of eight kings of the Satavahana dynasty who embraced Buddhism.The Buddha Vihar reminds one of the remarkable Taj Mahal in some respects though it is vastly different in construction and appearance. The Vihar’s dome is an RCC structure with Italian white marble chips unlike the Taj which is made wholly of white marble. It has been built using nearly 1,500 tonnes of cement, 250 tonnes of steel, 5 lakh bricks and 200 cubic meters of sand. The center has a main building which has a meditation centre at the cellar and a Lord Buddha Chaitya (temple in Pali) on the ground floor. The dome is 70 feet high and has a diameter of 59 feet. There are four Ashoka pillars in the corner of the main building, each 48-ft tall.The complex consists of a museum, where another idol of Lord Buddha is installed. The ground floor of the main complex has an expansive Dhyana Mandir or meditation hall. Here there is a 6.5 ft tall black granite Buddha statue made in Bidadi by the eminent sculptor Ashok Gudigar of Ramanagaram District. The chanting of the mantra ‘Buddham Sharanam Gacchami’, meaning ‘I take refuge in the supreme knowledge’, reverberates in the huge hall. With an area of 15,625 sq ft the prayer hall in Buddha Vihara has 170 pillars and 284 blocks. Each block has a carving representative of the architecture of the Buddha temples of Ajanta, Ellora, Nagpur, Bodh Gaya, Saranath, Rajgir, Lumbini, Kusinara, Thailand, Singapur, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Japan and Rome. The marbled floor of the hall has a seating capacity of 1500. There are 28 huge ventilators named after Buddhas of various eras.The chief attraction in Buddha Vihara is the gold coated panchaloha ( five metals) statue of the seated Buddha which is 8.5 ft high. This is believed to be the tallest Buddha statue in the south. The statue was imported from Thailand and consecrated in 2008. The complex also has statues of Buddha’s disciples Ananda and Kashyapara. The hall here has a seating capacity of 500. The walls depict cement carvings of Jataka Tales,