Being Indian, we all have built in ingredient ‘peace’, and that puts us in a different platform from the rest.… our commitment towards peace is bound by relationships – Humans with Human, Animal, Object and Finally dedicated to ‘Vishwa Shanti’ …
The country has several Shanti Stupas located all over the country constructed at various times to promote peace and tranquility..
I am fortunate to visit all the Shanti Stupas we have in our country, but I realized that after visiting the Vishwa Shanti Stupa at Leh in April 2016 that within a span of 11 years I have been to all the Shanti Stupas in our country. My journey of Stupas started in way back 1995 when I was posted in Muzaffarpur in Bihar, barely 35 km away from the historical place of Vaishali. This is archeologically important because of two major historical events – Lord Mahavira was born here in 599 BC and Gautam Buddha preached his last sermon. The construction of the Stupa started in 1990 and was completed in 6 years. This was inaugurated by then President of India Shri Shankar Dayal Sharma, in October, 1996.
This 38-meter high Shanti Stupa is the highest in India was built by the Nippomjan Myohoji sect of Japan. It is based on the teaching of Saodharma Pundarika (the Lotus Sutra) to disseminate love and peace to create the pure land on the earth.
The construction of Stupas was initiated by the revered Nichidastu Fuji Guru after the destruction Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the atom bombs resulting in the end of the second World War in 1945.
The second Shanti Stupa I visited was in Rajgir, barely 100 km from the state capital Patna.. This Shanti Stupa was built in 1969 to spread the message of peace and non-violence.