State-of-the-art Vipassana Centre to put city on radar of int’l visitors

Nagpur: The coming up of a state-of-the-art 'Vipassana' Meditation Centre at the Dragon Palace Temple, Kamptee, is likely to put Nagpur on the radar of international visitors. The Centre, constructed on 10 acres of land in the temple campus was inaugurated on Friday afternoon at the hands of President Ram Nath Kovind.

Vipassana is a 2500 year old art of meditation, revived by Satyanarayan Goenka nearly 40 years ago in Igatpuri, from where it has been catching up. It essentially means to see things as they really are.

The two halls built for meditation inside the Centre can accommodate about 125 people to sit and meditate. The main pagoda looks ravishing with a height of 83 feet and surrounded on four sides by 10 feet tall pagodas, all painted in gold by nearly 80 artistes from Chennai. For the top level of pagoda, an umbrella has been made of eight metals or ashtadhatu, which has been brought especially from Thailand. The flooring of the halls is done in granite and white marble brought from Jaipur and Rajasthan. The pathways of the lawn, which spreads across 1 lakh square feet, are made of red stone and pure white marble. The 22 kinds of trees surrounding the Centre have been brought from Andhra Pradesh and Kolkata.

"After my father passed away, I realized that everyone has to die someday. It matters not how many years a person lives, but how useful he was to the society when he lived," said Sulekha Kumbhare, Founder President of Ogawa society, which runs the temple. Kumbhare added that she was inspired to pursue Vipassana because of Goenka guruji, and as a token of gratitude, wanted to start camps for others.

President Kovind said that by creating our present constitution, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar has promoted the ancient democratic traditions which are practised in Buddhism. "Buddhism is rooted in revolutionary spirit and its value are catching up in countries like Sri Lanka, China, Bhutan, Myanmar, Asia and around the world," the president added.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari said that Nagpur enjoys historical importance, as it is the place where Dr Ambedkar converted to Buddhism. "The last station of the metro, which is Automobile chowk, will also be extended to Kamptee Kanan, which will make a visit from airport to the temple a matter of few minutes," Gadkari added.

CM Devendra Fadnavis said that it was an honour that the President's first visit to Maharashtra was directly to Nagpur's Deekshabhoomi. Minister of social justice Rajkumar Badole proposed the vote of thanks. Energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule was also present at the venue.

Box:

Features of the meditation centre:

Two special Dhamma halls for group mediation

24 cells for students, 8 for senior students and one cell for Acharya Guruji

Separate accommodation for male and female meditation students with single occupancy with attached toilets

Dormitories and separate dining hall for male and female students, centralized kitchen