Convention to stress for global peace

This story was one luckier one. When I had been to the Bhopal airport to cover the arrival of some political person from New Delhi to sort out the difference between the warring factions in the then Digvijay Singh led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh. It so happened that I saw more than a dozen of Buddhist monks waiting for their religious leader who is the President of the Mahabodhi Society of Sri Lanka an also the Sanchi Stupa in Madhya Pradesh. After speaking to them and asking them the importance of the visitor, I approached him on his arrival and spoke to him for 20 minutes standing at the arrival exit door.

Fifty two-year old president of the Mahabodhi Society of Sri Lanka Ven. Banagala Upatissa would be leading 1000-odd delegates to the Buddhist convention starting here in Bhopal tomorrow. The venerable priest disclosed the convention would focus on global peace and other issues which would make the world a better place.
Ven. Banagala spoke to Hindustan Times at the Bhopal airport on his arrival here today. He said the rise in terrorism globally is alarming for priests like him all over the world. Only faith and religion can change the mindset of the hard-core terrorist, he said, adding hatred was being created by a few political parties, which are using religion to achieve wrong ends. He said conventions, such as the one in Bhopal, would enlighten people about faith in God and not political leaders.
As to why Sanchi was not chosen for the convention, Ven Banagala replied bad roads, acute shortage of water supply and shoddy telephone lines there had posed a major problem. “It took me two days to get through to some Japanese delegates on telephone from Sanchi”.
He said he had apprised the State Government, which needs to act on the problems. As it is, he said very few travelers are visiting Sanchi these days, and if the situation continues even they would not be seen, he said.
Asked what the Mahabodhi Society of Sri Lanka would achieve through this maiden convention, Ven. Banagala replied “we will seek to send a message to the world that we would like to have peace,” adding he had invited other religious leaders too for the two-day convention.
He was all praise for the then Home Minister Mahendra Baudh of the Congress Government, and said that he was organizing the convention and added that the minister readily agreed to the idea of the Golden Jubilee convention and had even attended a few courses in Buddhism in Sri Lanka.
Born to a family on Sri Lanka, Ven. Banagala has five sisters and four brothers. He also has some roots in Bhopal, having attended college in the State Capital and completed his Masters at the SSL Jain College in Vidisha in 1975.

Sightless get new view of Sanchi Stupas

This story and picture of the then Leader of opposition of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickramasinghe and that of the Blind children of the Arushi were a double whammy for me and one can say just landed on my lap while I was a private visit to the Sanchi Stupa with my wife in November 2000. First their was a huge crowd surrounding the former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and later I saw some blind children gathered around the board and trying to read what was written in Braille to their in-charge. My passion for photographing them started much to the annoyance of my wife. I still went ahead and started to speak to the children and to my surprise I landed a national level story for the underprivileged.
So after I went back to Bhopal and released the pictures of the Sri Lankan’s visit to the holy Sanchi Stupa and later asked my Editor if I could go ahead and write about the blind children’s involvement in putting up a board in Braille to help the other visually impaired visitors to this world heritage site in Madhya Pradesh. Below is the Story which on the front page of the Hindustan Times all India editions and the picture of the Sri Lankan leader which was used in the Bhopal Edition of the Hindustan Times.

RANIL WICKRAMASINGHE LEADER OF OPPOSITION IN THE SRI LANKAN PARLIAMENT GOES AROUND THE SANCHI STUPA BEFORE BEING BLESSED BY THE SACRED RELICS OF ARAHANS SARIPUTTA AND MOGGALLAN THE CLOSE DISCIPLES OF LORD BUDDHA AT SANCHI STUPA DURING HIS VISIT TO INDIA IN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2000.


Sightless get new view of Sanchi Stupas

Even if Radheshyam Panwaria cannot savour the visual splendour of the Sanchi stupas, he can at least delve into its glorious past now. Courtesy a novel initiative by the Archaecological Survey of India (ASI), Bhopal Circle and an NGO Arushi, a brief on the world famous Buddhist monuments has been put up in Braille and a wheel chair provided at the site for the physically impaired.
Thousands of others afflicted from visual and other forms of physical disability can look forward to visiting this World Heritage monument built by King Ashoka.
There are also plans for putting up more Braille boards at six other archaeological sites through out Madhya Pradesh by the end of next year.
For Starters, this facility has created history in itself, as it if the first of it's kind in the country for the visually impaired where the incidence of partial and total visual disability is very high. This could well be a learning experience for both the governments at the State and the Center to set information boards in Braille at various other historical sites - starting maybe from the Taj Mahal in Agra?
Anil Mudgal, a volunteer of Arushi, mooted the concept. He was bombarded with questions every time he took blind students to Sanchi. "This time when these students were given these details in Braille, they were satisfied. They did not forget anything they had learned through the Braille and this is what provoked me to push this project through."
Dr Mishra said that he was aware of this facility, having seen it in Munich, Germany and at a Roman site, which he visited some years ago. "When the Arushi people approached me, I was thrilled and we went ahead with the project. I feel it will be a success."

Dr Mishra said that the ASI - Arushi endeavour was to put up Braille details and the wheelchair facility in world -famous sites like Khajuraho, Mandu and Bhimbetka. ASI and Arushi are also coming up with other useful projects like information on historical sites in the Braille book format and the audio-cassettes to help the physically challenged. Dr Mishra will be shortly requesting his fellow officers of other ASI zones to make such facilites for the disabled. He feels that it will not be a difficult task since the cost factor is minimal.
Radheshyam, who was seen checking for grammatical or spelling mistakes on the Braille board at Sanchi said that these efforts would "help people like us." Incidentally, he would also pit his chess skills against none other than Vishwanath Anand some time next month!