Bihar chief Minister calls on Dalai Lama

(TibetanReview.net, Feb09, 2010) Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the Indian state of Bihar visited Dharamsala to meet privately with the Dalai Lama on Feb 8. He wanted to invite the Tibetan leader to visit the state’s capital Patna and inaugurate the majestic Buddha Memorial Park which is expected to be ready by April-May this year, reported the Times of India online Feb 8.

The huge park with meditation hall is being built at a cost of Rs 125 crore (about US$28 million) and marks the 2550th year of Mahaparinirvana of Lord Buddha.

The main purpose of building the park was stated to be to keep an urn containing holy relics of Lord Buddha on display there. The relics are currently preserved at Patna Museum, where it had remained for about 60 years after their discovery during excavations in Vaishali.

However, the issue has become political with politicians opposed to Nitish wanting the relics to be kept in Vaishali from where it had been excavated. The chief minister was stated to hope the Dalai Lama’s implicit sanction by inaugurating the park would allay the opposition.

The main purpose for moving the relics to the newly built park was stated to be to attract tourists and pilgrims to the city. "The Buddhists and tourists have reason to visit Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda and Vaishali, but there is nothing to attract them to Patna. It had been planned to keep the relics in the park for display in a bid to attract the tourists," the reported quoted sources as saying.

The report cited officials in New Delhi as saying that since the Dalai Lama holds the status of head of state, the appointment was sought through the ministry of external affairs.