The ancient province of Kalinga, where the last battle of Emperor Ashoka's

 The ancient province of Kalinga, where the last battle of Emperor Ashoka's reign was fought, is now divided into the states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Chhattisgarh. BC After the war in the 3rd century, this region came under Maurya rule. Kalinga is the eastern coastal region of India. It currently falls in the Ganjam district of Orissa. The name Babuneshwar, Bengal, Bangladesh originated from Buddhist culture. The people of Kalinga were well versed in many sciences. His main occupation was shipbuilding. There were big ports near the coast. There was foreign trade from there. Therefore, the culture that flourished in this region was called Utkal.

Kalinga The Great Ashoka 
 The Dhauli hills in Kalinga province are situated on the banks of the Daya River. This place is at a distance of 8 km from Bhubaneshwar. Except for the hills, the rest of the area is flat. Here is the inscription of Emperor Ashoka. And this place is considered to be the site of Kalinga war. The Kalinga War was fought between the Mauryan emperor Ashoka and the Kalinga king Ananta (Suratha). Seeing the situation after the war, Emperor Ashoka felt remorse. The heart was filled with compassion and mercy and the name of that river also became Daya. At the same time, it is also believed that the hills here were named Dhauli due to the fierce dust and dust of many soldiers in the war. After the war, Emperor Ashoka came under the shelter of Dhamma and built many chaityas, stupas, pillars and viharas around Dhauli. The entire population of Utkal became Buddhist. In the line 'Dravida Utkal Bang' in our national anthem, Utkal means ancient Kalinga Buddhist society.

After the Kalinga war, the distraught emperor Ashoka adopted the Buddha's Dhamma, filled with peace and compassion at Dhauli. That is why the Japanese organization "Kalinga Nippon Buddha Sangha" and "Japan Buddha Sangha" Orissa State in 1972 built a large stupa at this place as a symbol of Emperor Ashoka. This white stupa is called Shanti Stupa or Shanti Payagoda. This year this stupa is completing fifty years. Therefore, the state of Orissa has organized a grand ceremony next month on October 28, 2022. Around 150 senior Buddhist monks from around the world will be invited to participate in the event. The Golden Jubilee of Shanti Stupa will be celebrated with collective recitation of Buddhist tales and sutras. Along with this, Shantipad Yatra will be organized from Bhubaneshwar to Dhauli on this occasion.


Recently, Orissa Chief Secretary A. A meeting was held under the chairmanship of C Mohapatra. In this, some decisions were taken regarding the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Shanti Stupa. Earlier orders have been given to repair and whitewash this stupa. A fund of Rs 1.87 crore has also been given for this. A circular path will also be built around the Shanti Stupa. A prominent nephew and some engineers came from Japan to see the repair work of this Shanti Stupa. He inspected the work and expressed satisfaction over the repair work being done by the State Government. I bow to this Shanti Stupa built in memory of Emperor Ashoka, the Kalinga War and the Buddhist path adopted by him. I also give special thanks to the State of Orissa for organizing the program to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of this Stupa. Because this stupa always reminds that it is necessary for man to follow the path of peace to live life on this earth.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Buddha relics and Excavation by William Claxton Peppe.

Image
A buried stupa was discovered by William Claxton Peppe, a British colonial engineer and landowner of an estate at Piprahwa in January 1898. Following the severe famine that decimated Northern India in 1897, Peppe led a team in excavating a large earthen mound on his land. Having cleared away scrub and jungle, they set to work building a deep trench through the mound. After digging through 18 feet of solid brickwork, they came to a large stone coffer which contained five small vases containing bone fragments, ashes, and jewels. On one of the vases was a Dhamma script which was translated by Georg Bühler, a leading European epigraphist of the time, to mean: Sukiti-bhatinaṃ sabhaginikanam sa-puta-dalanam iyaṃ salila-nidhane Budhasa bhagavate sakiyanam. "This relic-shrine of divine Buddha (is the donation) of the Sakya-Sukiti brothers, associated with their sisters, sons, and wives, This inscription implied that the bone fragments were part of the remains of Gautama Buddha, the founde
Read more

Ruins of once grand temples are strewn around north India.

Image
 Ruins of once grand temples are strewn around north India. Almost all of them date back to what is variously known in prevalent textbooks as the 'medieval period' of Indian history. British authors of Indian history called it the 'Muslim' period of Indian history. Historians associated with the Indian History Congress routinely gave lectures on how some other name needed to be used but still, the Indian History Congress-- dominated by historians from Aligarh and Delhi-- has continued to divide its scholarly efforts into the 'ancient', 'medieval' and 'modern' period. Almost all the departments of history in the universities of India too are divided in the same manner. The British had called the ancient period as the Hindu period, the medieval period as the Muslim period and the modern period was associated with  British rule.
Read more