Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
लुम्बिनीले मेक्का मेदिना र भ्याटिकन सिटी बाट धेरै सिक्नु पर्छ
कारीब ३२ बर्ष अगाडि सन १९७८ मा प्रसिद्ध जापानी वास्तुकलाविद द्वारा तयार पारिएको सुन्दर लुम्बिनीको गुरुयोजना झन्डै १५ बर्ष अगाडि नै सम्पन्न भईसक्नु पर्ने हो तर मुलुक को लथालिङ राजनीतिक अवस्थाका कारण आज सम्म पनि त्यो काम सम्पन्न हुन सकेको छैन। आज संसारभर बाट लुम्बिनी मा खचाखच भरिएका भक्तजन र अन्य पर्यटकलाई कसरी ब्यबस्थित गर्ने भनेर योजना हरु कार्यन्वन गर्नु पर्ने बेलामा हामी हरु लुम्बिनी बिकास कोषमा राजनीतिक नियुक्ती र पदाधिकारी हरु फेरबादलमा नै अल्मलिएका छौं अझ सबै भन्दा दु:ख को कुरा त हामी बुद्ध नेपालमा जन्मिएका हुन है भनेर संसार भर बुद्ध को जन्मस्थलको परिचय दिन कोसीस मात्र गर्दैछौं।
संसारका केही देसहरुमा केही त्यस्ता व्यक्तीहरु को जन्म भयो जसले ति ठाउँहरु लाई पवित्र तिर्थस्थलको रुपमा विश्वबिख्यात बनाइदिए। नेपालमा जन्मिएका गौतम बुद्ध,साउदी अरबका प्रोफेट मोहम्मद र इज्राएल मा जन्मिएका जिजस क्राइस्ट जस्ता महामानवहरुको कारण उनिहरुको जन्मस्थान र सम्बन्धित राष्ट्र ले नै बिबिध कुराहरुमा फाईदा लिन सक्ने अवस्था बन्यो। धर्म र संस्क्रितीको सही सदुपयोग गरेर साउदी अरब, भ्याटिकन सिटी अनी इजिप्ट जस्ता देसहरु ले आफ्ना देसमा रहेका बिभिन्न धार्मिक तथा सांस्कृतिक सम्पदा हरुको विश्व भर प्रचार गरी निरन्तर रुपमा अधिकाधिक लाभ लिन सफल छन। मुस्लिम समुदायको अत्यन्त पवित्र भुमी र सके सम्म हरेक मुस्लिमले जीवनमा एक पल्ट हज गर्न पुग्नै पर्ने भनिएको साउदी अरबको मेक्कमा मात्र वार्षिक १३ मिलियन भक्तजन र पर्यटकहरु पुग्ने गरेका बिभिन्न तथ्यांक हरुले देखाउछन त्यस्तै कारीब ४४ हेक्टर क्षेत्रफल र ८०० भन्दा केही मात्र बढी जनसंख्या भएको भ्याटिकन सिटी मा सन २००६ मा मात्र ४.२ मिलियन ले भ्रमण गरेका थिए। यसरी उनिहरुले खर्बौं डलर बिदेसी पर्यटक हरु मार्फत आफ्नो देसमा भित्राउन सफल भईरहेका छन। यता हामीले भने स्वबिबेक प्रयोग गरेर त देसलाई संसार भर चिनाउन कुनै आधार तयार गर्न सकेनौं सकेनौं, प्राकृतिक बरदान स्वरुप पाएका अमुल्य प्राकृतिक सम्पदाहरु अनी संसार भर ३७६ मिलियन अनुयायी रहेका बुद्ध धर्म का प्रबर्तक गौतम बुद्ध जस्ता प्रसिद्ध गहनाको संरक्षण समेत गर्न सकेनौं।
हरेक पटकको सरकारी कमजोरी हरुले गर्दा सगरमाथा लगायत का विश्वाबिख्यात हिमालहरु, सुन्दर बस्तिहरु, धार्मिक संस्कृतिक सम्पदाहरु र अनेकौं दुर्लभ सुन्दरताको खानि भएको नेपालले आज सम्म फाईदा आउन सक्ने पर्यटकिय क्षेत्रमा ठुलो लगानी गर्न सकेको छैन जसले गर्दा ठुलो लाभ पनि लिन सकेको छैन। हाम्रा सम्पदा हरुको नाम बेचेर भरत ले लगातार फाईदा लिईरहदा नेपाल सरकार सधैं मुकदर्शक बनेर बस्ने बाहेक केही गर्न सक्दैन। भारतले उस्को देसमा अर्बौं रुपैया खर्च गरेर नक्कली कपिलबस्तु निर्माण कार्य पुरा गर्नै लागि सकेको छ, निर्माणका क्रममा नै कपिल्बस्तु महोत्सब पनि गरिसकेको छ अनी धेरै बिदेसी पर्यटकहरु लाई झुक्याएर आफ्नो नक्कली कपिल्बस्तुमा भित्राइ रहेको पनि छ, त्यती भई सक्दा पनि नेपाल को कुटनितिक तवर बाट त्यस्को बारेमा भारत सरकार समक्ष्य कुनै किसिमको स्पष्टिकरण माग भएको छैन। बरु सरकारी निकाय हरु बाट र मुलधारका संचार संस्थाहरुका सहयोग अभाबका बाबजुद बिभिन्न देसहरुमा रहेका राष्ट्रप्रेमी नेपालीहरु मिलेर ब्यक्तिगत र बिभिन्न सन्जालहरु गठन गरी संसार भर भारतीय हस्तक्षेपको भन्डाफोर गरिरहेका छन। संसारभर छरिएर रहेका केही नेपालीहरुले सुरुमा ईन्टरनेटमा पाइने बिभिन्न लोकप्रिय सामाजिक सन्जालहरु र अन्य संचार माध्यम हरु बाट सुरु गरेको 'कपिल्बस्तु दिवस अभियान'(भारतले बुद्धको जन्मस्थलमाथी गरेको हस्तक्षेप बिरुद्ध विश्व समुदायमा रहेको भ्रम निवारण अभियान) र नेपाली हरुले गर्ने बिभिन्न प्रयास हरु
यसका उदाहरणहरु हुन। यस्ता अभियान हरुले गर्दा चाडै नै भारतीय नक्कली कपिलबस्तुले पनि हाम्रो आफ्नै लुम्बिनीमा रहेको बुद्धको सक्कली कपिलबस्तुको महत्व झल्काउदै विश्व भर प्रचार गरिरहनेछ र संसारभर रहेका बुद्ध धर्मावलम्बी हरु साथै बुद्धलाई नजिक बाट बुझ्न चाहने हरुले नेपालकै कपुलबस्तुको अझ महत्वका साथ भ्रमण गरिरहने छन।
तर अब नेपाल सरकारले त्यस क्षेत्र र वरपर विशेस गरी बुद्धिस्ट रास्ट्र हरु लगायतका अन्य देस सग सोझै संपर्क गर्न सक्ने हावाइ यातायात, विश्वस्तरिय सेवा सुबिधा, होटेल, आन्तरिक यातायात, उर्जा, संचार लगायत को ब्यापक बिकास बिस्तार गर्ने, बर्सै पिच्छे बुद्ध सम्बन्धी बिभिन्न ठुल्ठुला गतिबिधीहरु गर्ने र सबै भन्दा महत्वपूर्ण कुरा शान्ती सुरक्षामा बिशेष जोड दीइ द्रुतत्तर गतिमा बिकास निर्माण अगाडि बढाउने हो भने चर्चित धार्मिक शहरहरु भ्याटिकन सिटी, मेक्का र मेदिना जस्तै लुम्बिनी ले पनि वार्षिक दशौं लाख पर्यटक र अर्बौं डलर नेपाल भित्राउन सफल हुनेछ साथै नेपालका अन्य पर्यटकिय क्षेत्रहरुले पनि फक्रने फुल्ने मौका पाउनेछन जुन नेपालको आर्थिक उन्नतिमा कोशेढुङा साबित हुनेछ।
Sujan Neupane
Sydney, Australia
Global Committee Member, Australia Co-Ordinator
The Global Kapilvastu Day Movement, December 1
संसारका केही देसहरुमा केही त्यस्ता व्यक्तीहरु को जन्म भयो जसले ति ठाउँहरु लाई पवित्र तिर्थस्थलको रुपमा विश्वबिख्यात बनाइदिए। नेपालमा जन्मिएका गौतम बुद्ध,साउदी अरबका प्रोफेट मोहम्मद र इज्राएल मा जन्मिएका जिजस क्राइस्ट जस्ता महामानवहरुको कारण उनिहरुको जन्मस्थान र सम्बन्धित राष्ट्र ले नै बिबिध कुराहरुमा फाईदा लिन सक्ने अवस्था बन्यो। धर्म र संस्क्रितीको सही सदुपयोग गरेर साउदी अरब, भ्याटिकन सिटी अनी इजिप्ट जस्ता देसहरु ले आफ्ना देसमा रहेका बिभिन्न धार्मिक तथा सांस्कृतिक सम्पदा हरुको विश्व भर प्रचार गरी निरन्तर रुपमा अधिकाधिक लाभ लिन सफल छन। मुस्लिम समुदायको अत्यन्त पवित्र भुमी र सके सम्म हरेक मुस्लिमले जीवनमा एक पल्ट हज गर्न पुग्नै पर्ने भनिएको साउदी अरबको मेक्कमा मात्र वार्षिक १३ मिलियन भक्तजन र पर्यटकहरु पुग्ने गरेका बिभिन्न तथ्यांक हरुले देखाउछन त्यस्तै कारीब ४४ हेक्टर क्षेत्रफल र ८०० भन्दा केही मात्र बढी जनसंख्या भएको भ्याटिकन सिटी मा सन २००६ मा मात्र ४.२ मिलियन ले भ्रमण गरेका थिए। यसरी उनिहरुले खर्बौं डलर बिदेसी पर्यटक हरु मार्फत आफ्नो देसमा भित्राउन सफल भईरहेका छन। यता हामीले भने स्वबिबेक प्रयोग गरेर त देसलाई संसार भर चिनाउन कुनै आधार तयार गर्न सकेनौं सकेनौं, प्राकृतिक बरदान स्वरुप पाएका अमुल्य प्राकृतिक सम्पदाहरु अनी संसार भर ३७६ मिलियन अनुयायी रहेका बुद्ध धर्म का प्रबर्तक गौतम बुद्ध जस्ता प्रसिद्ध गहनाको संरक्षण समेत गर्न सकेनौं।
हरेक पटकको सरकारी कमजोरी हरुले गर्दा सगरमाथा लगायत का विश्वाबिख्यात हिमालहरु, सुन्दर बस्तिहरु, धार्मिक संस्कृतिक सम्पदाहरु र अनेकौं दुर्लभ सुन्दरताको खानि भएको नेपालले आज सम्म फाईदा आउन सक्ने पर्यटकिय क्षेत्रमा ठुलो लगानी गर्न सकेको छैन जसले गर्दा ठुलो लाभ पनि लिन सकेको छैन। हाम्रा सम्पदा हरुको नाम बेचेर भरत ले लगातार फाईदा लिईरहदा नेपाल सरकार सधैं मुकदर्शक बनेर बस्ने बाहेक केही गर्न सक्दैन। भारतले उस्को देसमा अर्बौं रुपैया खर्च गरेर नक्कली कपिलबस्तु निर्माण कार्य पुरा गर्नै लागि सकेको छ, निर्माणका क्रममा नै कपिल्बस्तु महोत्सब पनि गरिसकेको छ अनी धेरै बिदेसी पर्यटकहरु लाई झुक्याएर आफ्नो नक्कली कपिल्बस्तुमा भित्राइ रहेको पनि छ, त्यती भई सक्दा पनि नेपाल को कुटनितिक तवर बाट त्यस्को बारेमा भारत सरकार समक्ष्य कुनै किसिमको स्पष्टिकरण माग भएको छैन। बरु सरकारी निकाय हरु बाट र मुलधारका संचार संस्थाहरुका सहयोग अभाबका बाबजुद बिभिन्न देसहरुमा रहेका राष्ट्रप्रेमी नेपालीहरु मिलेर ब्यक्तिगत र बिभिन्न सन्जालहरु गठन गरी संसार भर भारतीय हस्तक्षेपको भन्डाफोर गरिरहेका छन। संसारभर छरिएर रहेका केही नेपालीहरुले सुरुमा ईन्टरनेटमा पाइने बिभिन्न लोकप्रिय सामाजिक सन्जालहरु र अन्य संचार माध्यम हरु बाट सुरु गरेको 'कपिल्बस्तु दिवस अभियान'(भारतले बुद्धको जन्मस्थलमाथी गरेको हस्तक्षेप बिरुद्ध विश्व समुदायमा रहेको भ्रम निवारण अभियान) र नेपाली हरुले गर्ने बिभिन्न प्रयास हरु
यसका उदाहरणहरु हुन। यस्ता अभियान हरुले गर्दा चाडै नै भारतीय नक्कली कपिलबस्तुले पनि हाम्रो आफ्नै लुम्बिनीमा रहेको बुद्धको सक्कली कपिलबस्तुको महत्व झल्काउदै विश्व भर प्रचार गरिरहनेछ र संसारभर रहेका बुद्ध धर्मावलम्बी हरु साथै बुद्धलाई नजिक बाट बुझ्न चाहने हरुले नेपालकै कपुलबस्तुको अझ महत्वका साथ भ्रमण गरिरहने छन।
तर अब नेपाल सरकारले त्यस क्षेत्र र वरपर विशेस गरी बुद्धिस्ट रास्ट्र हरु लगायतका अन्य देस सग सोझै संपर्क गर्न सक्ने हावाइ यातायात, विश्वस्तरिय सेवा सुबिधा, होटेल, आन्तरिक यातायात, उर्जा, संचार लगायत को ब्यापक बिकास बिस्तार गर्ने, बर्सै पिच्छे बुद्ध सम्बन्धी बिभिन्न ठुल्ठुला गतिबिधीहरु गर्ने र सबै भन्दा महत्वपूर्ण कुरा शान्ती सुरक्षामा बिशेष जोड दीइ द्रुतत्तर गतिमा बिकास निर्माण अगाडि बढाउने हो भने चर्चित धार्मिक शहरहरु भ्याटिकन सिटी, मेक्का र मेदिना जस्तै लुम्बिनी ले पनि वार्षिक दशौं लाख पर्यटक र अर्बौं डलर नेपाल भित्राउन सफल हुनेछ साथै नेपालका अन्य पर्यटकिय क्षेत्रहरुले पनि फक्रने फुल्ने मौका पाउनेछन जुन नेपालको आर्थिक उन्नतिमा कोशेढुङा साबित हुनेछ।
Sujan Neupane
Sydney, Australia
Global Committee Member, Australia Co-Ordinator
The Global Kapilvastu Day Movement, December 1
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
जिब्रो चिप्ल्याइ यतिमै सिमित रहोस्
हुनत उनको पहिला पनि धेरै कुरा हरु स्लिप भैसकेका छन् पहिला शाही कालमा एकपल्ट उनको ढाड स्लिप भएको थियो झन्डै राजाको खुट्टमा उनको टाउको परेको फोटो हरु संचार माध्यम मा निकै छाए, पछि पनि पत्रपत्रिका हरुमा बिभिन्न समारोह हरुमा महिला हरु तिर 'आइ स्लिप' भएका तस्बिर हरु प्रसस्तै देखिएका थिए। जहाँ सम्म 'टङ स्लिप्' को कुरा छ टङ स्लिप हुँदा त एक दुई वटा शब्द हरु पो चिप्लिएर एक थोक सुन्नु पर्ने अर्कै सुनिन्छ तर यी पात्रको जिब्रो ले त पुरै कुराको अर्थ नै परिवर्तन गराउदै 'टङ स्लिप्' को नै नयाँ अर्थ जुराइदियो, वहा कति महान जिब्रो।
स्वभाविक नै त हो मान्छे को शारिरिक बनावट न पर्यो कहीले के हुन्छ कहीले के, अझ नेपाली राजनीतिका नायक अनी नालायक हरुमा यो कुरा अली बढी नै लागु भैदिन्छ। दिमाग छिटो छिटो तातिन्छ अनी सेलाई हाल्छ, हातखुट्टा पनि बेलाबखत राम्ररी नै चल्छन हङामा नै मचिन्छ त्यस पछि, मुख को त कुरै नगरौं कती चल्छ कति यस्तै क्रम मा भर्खरै नेपालका प्रधान्मन्त्री भनिने ब्यक्ति को टङ 'स्लिप भएको' छ त्यो पनि नेपाल ईतिहासकै सबै भन्दा महत्वपुर्ण समयमा र सबैभन्दा महत्वपुर्ण बिषयमा।
गएको संबिधानसभा चुनावमा जनताहरुले उनलाई दुई वटा निर्वाचनक्षेत्र बाट स्लिप नगराएका पनि होइनन तर जनताको मत लाई यो देस को राजनीतिले टेर्ने भए त्यती बेला दुई ठाउ बाट जनताले ध्वासो पोतेर स्लिप गराएको मान्छेलाई माओवादीले टपक्क टिपेर धोइपखाली चोख्याइ संबिधानसभाको रक्षा गर्न बनिएको समुहमा राखेको हुने थिएन र आज त्यहि संबिधान सभाको मुख्य रक्षकको पवित्र सिङ्हासनमा बसेर आफ्नो ध्वासे अनुहार छर्लङ देखाउदै 'संबिधानसभा त मैले माओवादी लाई खुशी पार्न मात्र स्विकारेको हो' भन्दै तिनै पात्र को 'टङ स्लिप' हुने थिएन।
यिनको शारिरिक बनावट पनि अचम्मकै छ हिजो अस्ति मात्र आफुलाई गैंडा संग तुलना गर्दै थिए। सबै कुरा हरु राम्रो संग चलिदिएको भए यिनको भाग्य कति चम्कने थियो होला तर आफ्ना मन्त्रीहरुले हातखुट्टा,ओंठ,कलम,शक्ति जथाभावी चलाउदा,यिनी आफ्नो कुर्सी नै चल्ने डरले आफ्नो कुनै कुरा चलाउन सक्दैनन, भारतिय हरुले नेपाली सिमा मिचेर नेपाली हरुमाथी ज्यदती गरेको देखि देखि पनि यी पात्र केही बोल्न सक्दैनन बरु अनमिन र अन्य पस्चिमी रास्ट्रहरुले केही बोलिदिए भने उनीहरुलाई आफ्नो चासोको बिषयमा मात्र बोल्न र नेपाललाई उपनिबेस बनाउन नखोज्न चेतावनी दिन्छन।
आखिरी यी सबै कुरा हरु माओवादीको मात्र वास्तविक एजेन्डा संबिधान सभालाई तुहियाउन लाई गरिएका नौटन्की हरुमात्र हुन जसले मुलुकलाई फेरी युद्धमा फर्काओस र भारत लगायत नेपालमा शान्ति नचाहने तत्वहरु बाट शान्ति सुरक्षा का नाममा गरिने कथित सहयोग बाट कमिशन खाइरहन र जनतालाई मारिरहन पाइयोस यदि त्यस्तो होईन भने अहीलेको सरकारमा भएका धेरै जसो दल र दला हरुले यस्ता घटना हरुप्रती पक्कै पनि समर्थन जनाइरहने थिएनन। यो सरकार अलोक्तान्त्रिक र संबिधान प्रति रत्तिभर पनि जिम्मेवार छैन भन्ने कुरा यिनै खलपात्र हरुका बोली व्यबहारबाट लगातार प्रस्ट भैरहेका थिए तर अहीलेले यो सनसनीपुर्ण 'टङ स्लिप' ले त झनै छर्लङ बनाएको छन्। आखिर यो सरकार बिषवृक्ष नै रहेछ जसले अहीले सममा कुनै पनि मिठो फल फलाएन बरु दशकौंको प्रयासबाट प्राप्त संबिधानसभा र गणतन्त्ररुपी बिरुवाहरुमा बिषवमन मात्र गरिरहयो।
अब संबिधान जारी गर्न केही दिन मात्र बाँकी रहदा यस्तो ‘टङ स्लिप’ गराएर भित्री मनको कुरा छताछुल्ल पार्नेले संबिधानसभाको उपलब्धीको रक्षा गर्लान भनेर आशा त नगरौं तर देस युद्ध तिर नचिप्लोस भनेर कामना चाँही गरिरहौं र बलजफ्ती वाध्य भएर गणतन्त्रबादी भएको र लेण्डुपको आरोप लगाइदै आएको छ त्यतातिर पनि व्याबहारिक रुपमा नै स्लिप गराउनतिर भने नलागोस – कामना गर्ने काम हाम्रो गर्ने नगर्ने काम ‘स्लिप’ गर्नमा पोख्तको ।
also in http://ramkshrestha.wordpress.com/2010/05/25/toungue-slip/
स्वभाविक नै त हो मान्छे को शारिरिक बनावट न पर्यो कहीले के हुन्छ कहीले के, अझ नेपाली राजनीतिका नायक अनी नालायक हरुमा यो कुरा अली बढी नै लागु भैदिन्छ। दिमाग छिटो छिटो तातिन्छ अनी सेलाई हाल्छ, हातखुट्टा पनि बेलाबखत राम्ररी नै चल्छन हङामा नै मचिन्छ त्यस पछि, मुख को त कुरै नगरौं कती चल्छ कति यस्तै क्रम मा भर्खरै नेपालका प्रधान्मन्त्री भनिने ब्यक्ति को टङ 'स्लिप भएको' छ त्यो पनि नेपाल ईतिहासकै सबै भन्दा महत्वपुर्ण समयमा र सबैभन्दा महत्वपुर्ण बिषयमा।
गएको संबिधानसभा चुनावमा जनताहरुले उनलाई दुई वटा निर्वाचनक्षेत्र बाट स्लिप नगराएका पनि होइनन तर जनताको मत लाई यो देस को राजनीतिले टेर्ने भए त्यती बेला दुई ठाउ बाट जनताले ध्वासो पोतेर स्लिप गराएको मान्छेलाई माओवादीले टपक्क टिपेर धोइपखाली चोख्याइ संबिधानसभाको रक्षा गर्न बनिएको समुहमा राखेको हुने थिएन र आज त्यहि संबिधान सभाको मुख्य रक्षकको पवित्र सिङ्हासनमा बसेर आफ्नो ध्वासे अनुहार छर्लङ देखाउदै 'संबिधानसभा त मैले माओवादी लाई खुशी पार्न मात्र स्विकारेको हो' भन्दै तिनै पात्र को 'टङ स्लिप' हुने थिएन।
यिनको शारिरिक बनावट पनि अचम्मकै छ हिजो अस्ति मात्र आफुलाई गैंडा संग तुलना गर्दै थिए। सबै कुरा हरु राम्रो संग चलिदिएको भए यिनको भाग्य कति चम्कने थियो होला तर आफ्ना मन्त्रीहरुले हातखुट्टा,ओंठ,कलम,शक्ति जथाभावी चलाउदा,यिनी आफ्नो कुर्सी नै चल्ने डरले आफ्नो कुनै कुरा चलाउन सक्दैनन, भारतिय हरुले नेपाली सिमा मिचेर नेपाली हरुमाथी ज्यदती गरेको देखि देखि पनि यी पात्र केही बोल्न सक्दैनन बरु अनमिन र अन्य पस्चिमी रास्ट्रहरुले केही बोलिदिए भने उनीहरुलाई आफ्नो चासोको बिषयमा मात्र बोल्न र नेपाललाई उपनिबेस बनाउन नखोज्न चेतावनी दिन्छन।
आखिरी यी सबै कुरा हरु माओवादीको मात्र वास्तविक एजेन्डा संबिधान सभालाई तुहियाउन लाई गरिएका नौटन्की हरुमात्र हुन जसले मुलुकलाई फेरी युद्धमा फर्काओस र भारत लगायत नेपालमा शान्ति नचाहने तत्वहरु बाट शान्ति सुरक्षा का नाममा गरिने कथित सहयोग बाट कमिशन खाइरहन र जनतालाई मारिरहन पाइयोस यदि त्यस्तो होईन भने अहीलेको सरकारमा भएका धेरै जसो दल र दला हरुले यस्ता घटना हरुप्रती पक्कै पनि समर्थन जनाइरहने थिएनन। यो सरकार अलोक्तान्त्रिक र संबिधान प्रति रत्तिभर पनि जिम्मेवार छैन भन्ने कुरा यिनै खलपात्र हरुका बोली व्यबहारबाट लगातार प्रस्ट भैरहेका थिए तर अहीलेले यो सनसनीपुर्ण 'टङ स्लिप' ले त झनै छर्लङ बनाएको छन्। आखिर यो सरकार बिषवृक्ष नै रहेछ जसले अहीले सममा कुनै पनि मिठो फल फलाएन बरु दशकौंको प्रयासबाट प्राप्त संबिधानसभा र गणतन्त्ररुपी बिरुवाहरुमा बिषवमन मात्र गरिरहयो।
अब संबिधान जारी गर्न केही दिन मात्र बाँकी रहदा यस्तो ‘टङ स्लिप’ गराएर भित्री मनको कुरा छताछुल्ल पार्नेले संबिधानसभाको उपलब्धीको रक्षा गर्लान भनेर आशा त नगरौं तर देस युद्ध तिर नचिप्लोस भनेर कामना चाँही गरिरहौं र बलजफ्ती वाध्य भएर गणतन्त्रबादी भएको र लेण्डुपको आरोप लगाइदै आएको छ त्यतातिर पनि व्याबहारिक रुपमा नै स्लिप गराउनतिर भने नलागोस – कामना गर्ने काम हाम्रो गर्ने नगर्ने काम ‘स्लिप’ गर्नमा पोख्तको ।
also in http://ramkshrestha.wordpress.com/2010/05/25/toungue-slip/
Thursday, May 13, 2010
कपिल्बस्तु दिवस विश्व कार्यसमिती गठन
विश्व शान्तिका अग्रदुत भगवान गौतम बुद्धको जन्मस्थान साथै उनको अस्थित्व माथि नै बिशेष गरि भारतिय पक्ष द्वारा भैरहेको ब्यापक हस्तक्षेपको बिरोध गर्दै खास गरि ठुलो आकारमा बिस्वब्यापी रुपमा फैलिएको भारतिय संचार माध्यम, चर्चित भारतिय लेखक बुद्दिजिबीहरु का पुस्तक हरु अनी चलचित्र र पर्यटन उध्योग बाट संसारभर बुद्ध भारत मा जन्मेका हुन भन्ने गलत प्रचार बाट उत्पन्न भ्रम लाई चिर्दै नजिकदो नेपाल पर्यटन बर्ष २०११ लाई समेत केही टेवा पुर्याउदै भ्विस्य मा बुद्धको अस्तित्व को पूर्ण रुपमा रक्षा गर्दै नेपाल लाई साहशिक मात्र नभै धार्मिक पर्यटकिय स्थलको रुपमा पनि बिस्वका करोडौ बुद्ध धर्मवलम्भी हरु र बुद्ध सम्बन्धी जिग्याशु हरु सामु चिनाउने लक्ष्यका साथ संसार भर रहेका नेपाली बुद्धिजिबीहरु अनी नेपाललाई माया गर्नेहरु मिलेर गत बर्ष (डिसेम्बर १ २००९) मा फेसबूक,ट्विटर जस्ता लोकप्रिय सामाजिक सन्जाल हरुको प्रयोग गरि र बिभिन्न देस हरुमा आफ्नो क्ष्यमता ले भ्याए सम्मका कार्यम्रम हरु सफल रुपमा सम्पन्न गर्दै नेपाललाई संसारमा चिनाउने एउटा बलियो आधार शान्तिका प्रतिमूर्ति गौतम बुद्ध लुम्बिनीमा जन्मेका हुन भन्ने सबभन्दा राम्रो प्रमाण अशोक स्तम्भ १ डिसेम्बर १८९६ मा जर्मन पुरातत्वबिद Anton Führer ले अन्तरराष्ट्रिय जगत सामू ल्याउने कार्य गरेको कारण उक्त दिनलाई एउटा ऐतिहासिक महत्व दिइनु आबस्यक देखिएको हुँदा राष्ट्रिय अन्तरराष्ट्रिय शान्ति प्रकृयामा समर्थन, ऐक्यबद्धता जनाउदै १ डिसेम्बरलाई कपिलबस्तु दिबसको रुपमा मनाउने निर्णय गरिएको छ।
संभाबित अधिकाधिक कार्यक्रम मार्फत बढीभन्दा बढी जन सहभागिता जुटाएर बुद्धका शान्तिका सन्देशहरुको प्रचार प्रसार गर्नु, नेपाललाई विश्व सामू अरु बढी परिचित गराउनु, नक्कली कपिलबस्तु लगायत बिभिन्न गतिबिधिका कारण बुद्धको जन्मस्थलबारे सिर्जित बिस्वब्यापी भ्रम निस्तेज पार्न प्रयासरत रहनु, बिस्व शान्ति अभियानमा हातेमालो गर्नु जस्ता उद्धेस्यहरु लिएर शुरु गरिएको यस अभियानलाई संस्थागत गर्न रामकुमार श्रेष्ठ (वेलायत)को बिस्व संयोजकत्वमा पछि दुइ जना थपी २१ जना पुर्याउने गरी हाललाई १९ सदस्यीय कपिलबस्तु दिबस अभियान बिस्व कार्य समिती गठन गरिएको छ । समितिका अन्य सदस्यहरुमा अबि शर्मा, संयोजक (क्यानडा), बाबुराजा महर्जन, संयोजक (न्यूजिल्याण्ड), भानु पौड्याल, संयोजक (क्यानडा), बिनय शाह, संयोजक (हङकङ), चन्द्र राई, संयोजक (क्यानडा), डा हरिकुमार श्रेष्ठ, संयोजक (ताइबान), हरि नेपाली, संयोजक (कतार), लक्ष्मण देबकोटा, संयोजक (पोर्तुगल) लक्ष्मण पुरी, संयोजक (नेपाल), लक्ष्मी सिंखडा, संयोजक (अमेरिका),ओम गुरुङ, संयोजक (जापान), राज श्रेष्ठ, संयोजक (नेपाल),रामहरि श्रेष्ठ, संयोजक (वेलायत), सन्तोष न्यौपाने, संयोजक (बेल्जियम), शैलेश श्रेष्ठ र शम्भु कट्टेल, संयोजक (अमेरिका) र सुजन न्यौपाने र सानु घिमिरे संयोजक (अस्ट्रेलिया), छन ।
अभियानको गतिबिधिलाई सहज बनाउन आ-आफ्नो क्षेत्रको क्षेत्रीय संयोजक समेत हुने गरी नौ जनाको सेक्रेटरियटको ब्यबस्था गरिएको छ, जस अनुसार बाबुराजा महर्जन (अस्ट्रेलिया, न्यूजिल्याण्ड र त्यस भेगका अन्य देशहरु हेर्ने), हरी नेपाली ( मध्यपूर्बका देशहरु हेर्ने), राज श्रेष्ठ (सार्क मुलुकहरु हेर्ने), बिनय शाह र ओम गुरुङ (जापान, हङकङ, चीन तथा त्यस भेगका देशहरु हेर्ने), शैलेश श्रेष्ठ (अमेरिका र दक्षिण अमेरिका हेर्ने), चन्द्र राई/अबि शर्मा (क्यानडा हेर्ने), र अर्को ब्यबस्था नहुन्जेलसम्मको लागि सन्तोष न्यौपाने (यूरोप हेर्ने) । बिस्व संयोजक स्वत: सेक्रेटरियटमा रहनेछ ।
बुद्ध सबै किसिमका जाती, धर्म र समुदायमा सर्ब स्वीकार्य महामानव, दार्शनिक भएकाले उनी संपूर्ण विस्व नागरिकको साझा संपत्ति भएका छन जस्ले ज्ञान र प्रेमको शान्तिप्रिय माध्यमबाट युगौँदेखिको हिंसावादी अन्धसंस्कृतिलाई जनमानसबाट फाली नयाँ लौकिक दृष्टिकोण स्थापना गरेका थिए र उन्का सन्देशहरु दिन प्रतिदिन झन झन सान्दर्भिक र अझ बढी महत्व पाउनु पर्ने महसूस संपूर्ण मानब मात्रले गरेका छन । बुद्धको यही बिस्वब्यापी महत्व र आदरबाट लालायितहरुले बुद्धको नामबाट नाजायज फायदा लिनका लागि बिस्वभरि नै बुद्ध भारतमा जन्मेको भन्ने किसिमले यतिसम्म दिग्भ्रमित तुल्याइसकेका छन कि अधिकांश देशका पाठ्य पुस्तकमा बुद्ध भारतमा जन्मेको भन्ने कुरा उल्लेख गर्ने बातावरण सिर्जना भैसकेको छ र भारत सरकारले आधिकारिक रुपमा यस्मा आफ्नो संलग्नता नदेखाए तापनि करोडौं रुपयाँ खर्च गरेर सन २०१२ सम्ममा पुरा गर्ने गरी नक्कली कपिलबस्तु निर्माणको अधिकांश कार्य समेत पुरा गरिसकेको छ । यिनै कारणले गर्दा गुगलमा बुद्धको जन्म स्थान भारतमा देखाउने (कपिलबस्तु दिवस अभियान र अन्य केही समूहद्धारा गरिएको बिरोधअको कारण अहिले गुगलले यस्मा सच्याएको छ), PBS जस्तो ठूलो कम्पनीले भिडिओहरु निर्माण गर्दा राजकुमार सिद्धार्थलाई भारतको भन्ने जस्ता गल्तीहरु गरेको पाइएकोले दिग्भ्रमित बिस्व जनताका बीच यथार्थ कुरा लैजाने जस्तो चुनौतिपूर्ण कार्य पनि यस अभियानको एउटा प्रमुख उद्धेस्य भएको कारण यस उद्धेस्य पूर्तिका लागि भानु पौड्याललाई बिशेष संयोजकको रुपमा चयन गरिएको छ ।
अभियानको उद्धेस्य प्राप्तीको लागि राष्ट्रिय अन्तरराष्ट्रिय सर्ब पक्षीय सहयोग र सदभाबलाई सहज बनाउन हाललाई ५ जना नेपाली र दुई जना बिदेशी गरी सात जनाको सल्लाहकार समिति बनाइएको छ जस अनुसार एनेकपा माओबादीका तर्फबाट मलेशियाका लागि राजदूत महामहिम डा ऋषि अधिकारी, नेकाका तर्फबाट संबिधान सभाका सदस्य तथा सांसद डा आरजु देउबा राणा, एमालेका तर्फबाट पूर्व मन्त्री तथा पार्टी केन्द्रिय सदस्य राजेन्द्र श्रेष्ठ, बुद्धिजीबिका तर्फबाट डा कबिताराम श्रेष्ठ र उद्योग ब्याबसायीका तर्फबाट अस्ट्रेलियाको न्यू साउथ वेल्सका कन्सुलर जनरल महामहिम दीपक खडका हुनुहुन्छ भने बिदेशीहरुमा पाँच महादेशहरुमा आफ्ना करीब १२०० फेङ सुइका कन्सल्ट्याण्टहरु र सयौं धार्मिक शिक्षकहरुको संजाल फैल्याउन सक्षम केही पुस्तकहरु थुप्रै भाषामा अनुदित भैसकेका ११ पुस्तकका लेखक तथा सबै महादेशका ५० देशहरुमा १०० लाइट सेण्टरका संस्थापक अमेरिकी Agni Frank Eickermann र White Conch Dharma Center का आध्यात्मिक निर्देशिका अमेरिकाकी Domo Geshe Rinpoche हुनुहुन्छ र अभियानका लागि उपयुक्त ब्यक्तिहरुलाई सल्लाहकार समितिमा पछि थपिन सकिनेछ । त्यसरी नै कपिलबस्तुका सांसदहरु र लुम्बिनी बिकास कोषका प्रमुखहरुलाई पदेन सल्लाहकारको रुपमा राखिनेछ ।
कपिलबस्तु दिवस अभियानले जाकारीयाको दुस्प्रयास का बिरुद्ध जन चेतना जगाउने र जन परिचालन गर्ने, गुगलमा बुद्धको जन्म स्थान खोज्दा भारत देखाउने कार्यको बिरुद्ध अन्य समूहसंग मिलेर बिरोध गरेर त्यस्लाई सुधार्न लगाउने(अहीले नेपाल नै देखाउछ), आफ्नो ब्लग मार्फत यस किसिमका भ्रमहरुलाई निस्तेज पार्न सक्दो प्रयास गर्ने(धेरैले आफ्नो ब्लगको हेडरमा बुद्ध नेपालमा जन्मेका हुन भन्ने सन्देस राखेका छन्), PBS ले बुद्धका बारे गलत जानकारी सहित भिडिओ निकाल्न लागेकोमा बिरोध गर्ने जस्ता थुप्रै कामहरु आफ्नो क्षमताले भ्याएसम्म गर्दै आएको छ ।
यस्तो संबेदनशील बिषयमा नेपाल सरकार, संचारकर्मी, बुद्धिजीबि र संपूर्ण नेपालीलाई यथोचित ध्यान दिन र यस किसिमका गतिबिधिमा सक्दो सहयोग गर्न कपिलबस्तु दिबस अभियान हार्दिक अनुरोध गर्दछ साथै फेसबूक मा खोलिएको कपिलवस्तु डे फ्यान क्लब मा आबद्ध हुन र यस अभियान बारे बिस्त्रित जानकारीको लागि यस अभियान को आधिकरिक वेब पेज http://www.worldamity.wordpress.com हेर्नु हुन र यहाँ हरुका आमुल्य सल्लाह सुझाब ब्यक्त गरिदिनु हुन बिशेष अनुरोध छ।
गत बर्ष डिसेम्बर १ मा सिड्नी मा भएको कार्यक्रममा यस अभियानका विश्व समिती सदस्य तथा अस्ट्रेलिया संयोजक सुजन न्यौपाने सिड्नी का महामहिम कन्सुलेट जेनेरल दिपक खड्का ज्यु लाई कपिलवस्तु दिवस को लोगो हस्तान्त्रन गर्दै। http://worldamity.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/kapilvastu-day-programme-in-sydney/
Monday, March 22, 2010
आफ्ना राष्ट्रिय गहना माथिको बिदेसी दाबी अस्विकार गरौ
बिगत केही समय यता भारत को जस्तो सुकै चरम ज्यादतीलाई पनि पहिला थाहा नपाएजस्तो गर्ने अनी धेरै नै जनदबाब आए पछि घटियापनको पनि अत्यन्तै तल्लो स्तरमा पुगी नेपाल सरकार नामको सस्थाबाट आधिकारिक रुपमा नै भारतबाट त्यस्तो केही नभएको बक्तब्य जारी हुन्छ। भारत ले नेपाली सीमा मिच्छ यहाँको सरकार मिचेकै होईन भन्छ, कैयौ नेपाली छाती हरुमा भारतिय बुट बज्रन्छन, सैयौ नेपाली चेली हरु बलात्कृत हुन्छन् नेपाली पक्ष मौन बस्छ, खुलेआम भारतिय सुरक्षाकर्मीहरु हतियार लिएर नेपाली भुमी छिर्छन दादागिरी देखाउछन तैपनी उनीहरु कारबाहीमा पर्दैनन बरु ससम्मान उतै भारत तिर फिर्ता पठाइन्छन। यस्ता घटनाक्रमको नालिबेली लगएर साध्य नै छैन। नेपाल सरकार नामको सस्थाको मौनता र भारतभक्तीको अत्याधिक फाईदा लिदै केही समय यता भारतले नेपालका बिस्वबिख्यात माहापुरुस भगवान गौतम बुद्धको बारे उस्का बिभिन्न संचार माध्यम, लेखक, कलाकार, पर्यटन सूचना केन्द्र आदि को प्रयोग गरि संसार भर बिभिन्न भ्रमहरु फिजाइ रहेको छ।
अब त उसले संसारले बुझेको बुद्धको वास्तविकतालाई खुलम खुल्ला चुनौती दिदै नेपालमा भएका बुद्ध सम्बन्धी बिभिन्न प्राचिन कुरा हरुको हुबहु नक्कल गर्दै त्यहा नक्कली कपिल्बस्तुको निर्माण कार्य तिब्र गतीमा अगाडि बढाइ रहेको छ र करिब करिब सक्न पनि लागेको कुरा बिभिन्न संचारमाध्यम बाट बारम्बार आइरहेका छन्। यस्ता कुरा हरुको बिरोध स्वरुप देस बिदेसमा रहेका हजारौं नेपाली हरुद्वरा आफुले सके सम्मका बिभिन्न कार्यक्रम हरु आयोजना भए http://worldamity.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/kapilvastu-day-preparation-activity-notes/, ईन्टरनेट को अत्याधिक प्रयोग हुने आजको संसार लाई ध्यान मा राख्दै ईन्टरनेट प्रयोगकर्ता हरुका सामुहिक सामाजिक सन्जाल हरु फेसबूक, टुइटर आदिमा विश्वलाई बुद्ध सम्बन्धी धेरै भन्दा धेरै जानकारी दिन बिभिन्न समुह हरु गठन भए छलफल भए http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lumbini-the-Birthplace-of-Lord-Buddha/98359881185?ref=ts#!/pages/buddha-was-born-in-Nepalnot-in-India/119204140365?ref=ts,http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lumbini-the-Birthplace-of-Lord-Buddha/98359881185?ref=ts#!/pages/Buddha/32563218319?ref=search&sid=517949954.120444910..1,http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lumbini-the-Birthplace-of-Lord-Buddha/98359881185?ref=ts बुद्ध को वास्तविकतामा आउन सक्ने सम्भाबित भ्रम हरुलाई बेलैमा हटाउनका लागि बिभिन्न प्रयास हरु भए, बुद्ध सम्बन्धी बिभिन्न दिवस हरु आयोजना भए http://worldamity.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/kapilvastu-day-logo5.jpg तर सरकारी तवर बाट कुनै ठोस कदम चालिएन बरु अनभिग्यता प्रकट गर्दै पन्छिने काम मात्र भयो।
त्यसैले अब भारतको समर्थन मा बिभिन्न बिबादास्पद निर्णय गर्दै आएको यस सरकार नामको सस्थाबाट बुद्ध को जन्मस्थान सम्बन्धमा नै भारतको समर्थन जनाउदै कुनै अप्रिय निर्णय गर्नु पुर्व नै हामीले सरकार सग भारतमा भैरहेको नक्कली कपिल्बस्तुको निर्माण र बुद्धको बारेमा बिभिन्न बहनामा हुने गरेका हस्तक्षेप बारे भारत सग स्पस्ट जवाफ माग्न लगाइ त्यस्ता क्रियाकलाप रोक्न भारत सग अनुरोध गर्न लगाउन दबाब दिनु पर्दछ, अन्यथा यो सरकारले केही गर्ने छैन। यसले नेपाली हरुका शान बुद्धको बस्तविकतामा थप भ्रम फैलाउने छ र नेपालले यस बाट धेरै ठुलो मुल्य चुकाउनु पर्ने छ। सधैं झै युगौ युग बुद्धको नाम आफ्नो माटो सग गासेर लिन पाइ रहन भारतिय ज्यदतीको सधैं बिरोध गरौ आफ्ना राष्ट्रिय गहना माथिको बिदेसी दाबी अस्विकार गरौ र संसारलाई भनौ "BUDDHA was born in NEPAL not in India." and " The real Kapilvastu is in Nepal not in India."
Sujan Neupane
Sydney Australia
also see on http://aswikrit.com/index.php?linkId=414
अब त उसले संसारले बुझेको बुद्धको वास्तविकतालाई खुलम खुल्ला चुनौती दिदै नेपालमा भएका बुद्ध सम्बन्धी बिभिन्न प्राचिन कुरा हरुको हुबहु नक्कल गर्दै त्यहा नक्कली कपिल्बस्तुको निर्माण कार्य तिब्र गतीमा अगाडि बढाइ रहेको छ र करिब करिब सक्न पनि लागेको कुरा बिभिन्न संचारमाध्यम बाट बारम्बार आइरहेका छन्। यस्ता कुरा हरुको बिरोध स्वरुप देस बिदेसमा रहेका हजारौं नेपाली हरुद्वरा आफुले सके सम्मका बिभिन्न कार्यक्रम हरु आयोजना भए http://worldamity.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/kapilvastu-day-preparation-activity-notes/, ईन्टरनेट को अत्याधिक प्रयोग हुने आजको संसार लाई ध्यान मा राख्दै ईन्टरनेट प्रयोगकर्ता हरुका सामुहिक सामाजिक सन्जाल हरु फेसबूक, टुइटर आदिमा विश्वलाई बुद्ध सम्बन्धी धेरै भन्दा धेरै जानकारी दिन बिभिन्न समुह हरु गठन भए छलफल भए http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lumbini-the-Birthplace-of-Lord-Buddha/98359881185?ref=ts#!/pages/buddha-was-born-in-Nepalnot-in-India/119204140365?ref=ts,http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lumbini-the-Birthplace-of-Lord-Buddha/98359881185?ref=ts#!/pages/Buddha/32563218319?ref=search&sid=517949954.120444910..1,http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lumbini-the-Birthplace-of-Lord-Buddha/98359881185?ref=ts बुद्ध को वास्तविकतामा आउन सक्ने सम्भाबित भ्रम हरुलाई बेलैमा हटाउनका लागि बिभिन्न प्रयास हरु भए, बुद्ध सम्बन्धी बिभिन्न दिवस हरु आयोजना भए http://worldamity.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/kapilvastu-day-logo5.jpg तर सरकारी तवर बाट कुनै ठोस कदम चालिएन बरु अनभिग्यता प्रकट गर्दै पन्छिने काम मात्र भयो।
त्यसैले अब भारतको समर्थन मा बिभिन्न बिबादास्पद निर्णय गर्दै आएको यस सरकार नामको सस्थाबाट बुद्ध को जन्मस्थान सम्बन्धमा नै भारतको समर्थन जनाउदै कुनै अप्रिय निर्णय गर्नु पुर्व नै हामीले सरकार सग भारतमा भैरहेको नक्कली कपिल्बस्तुको निर्माण र बुद्धको बारेमा बिभिन्न बहनामा हुने गरेका हस्तक्षेप बारे भारत सग स्पस्ट जवाफ माग्न लगाइ त्यस्ता क्रियाकलाप रोक्न भारत सग अनुरोध गर्न लगाउन दबाब दिनु पर्दछ, अन्यथा यो सरकारले केही गर्ने छैन। यसले नेपाली हरुका शान बुद्धको बस्तविकतामा थप भ्रम फैलाउने छ र नेपालले यस बाट धेरै ठुलो मुल्य चुकाउनु पर्ने छ। सधैं झै युगौ युग बुद्धको नाम आफ्नो माटो सग गासेर लिन पाइ रहन भारतिय ज्यदतीको सधैं बिरोध गरौ आफ्ना राष्ट्रिय गहना माथिको बिदेसी दाबी अस्विकार गरौ र संसारलाई भनौ "BUDDHA was born in NEPAL not in India." and " The real Kapilvastu is in Nepal not in India."
Sujan Neupane
Sydney Australia
also see on http://aswikrit.com/index.php?linkId=414
Friday, November 27, 2009
The Global Kapilbastu Day
December 1, 2009, The Global Kapilbastu Day is neither political program nor any NGO/INGO's fundrising program. this is a selfmotivated program organised after long discussion between different people via different online medias and famous social sites to eliminate the illusion to the world over Nepal Born Lord Buddha, from the people who are being misinformed by indian travel blogs, their medias, writers and film producers.ofcourse this is the program to send the peace message to the world via internet from the people of Lord Buddha's country.
please see an example of misinformation made by an Indian website on http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-158251813.html
and the fact on http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/666
For what it's worth?
Considering upcoming event 'Visit Nepal Year 2011' we Nepalese people living in different nations decided to set a program in the name of world famous Nepali Icon The Lord Buddha as there are millions of Buddhist people all over the world and Nepal is becoming not only a famous destination for adventurous activities for the tourists from the different corners of the world but also it's in the way to become one of the top destinations for the religious travellers.
But unfortunately, still there is a illusion in the western society and even in some of Asian communities that The Lord Buddha was born in India not in Nepal. India is continuously attaracting Buddha lovers to it's land, misinforming them about Buddha using it's big sized media houses, worldwide travel operators, writers and moviemakers. They are just getting benifit from the people who were supposed to travel Nepal as the birth place of such a great person.
How the people are selfmotived?
As part of preparation of this great day most of the internet using Nepalese all around the world are doing their best to spread the peace message by posting the facts about Lord Buddha to their personal blogs, websites and different social sites and letteing their friends from different nations.
please visit this link for daily updates of recent activities.
http://www.worldamity.wordpress.com
Still some people are thinking this is a political activity and some are asking money for every posts they make on their pages on social sites.
Once again, this is not a political party's program and it is not set to collect money so please please please keep posting something about The Buddha on your social site pages, websites and different online/paper/audio visual medias. Your each words can inform the world the facts about Buddha and Nepal.
Thank you
Sujan Neupane
Sydney Australia
please see an example of misinformation made by an Indian website on http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-158251813.html
and the fact on http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/666
For what it's worth?
Considering upcoming event 'Visit Nepal Year 2011' we Nepalese people living in different nations decided to set a program in the name of world famous Nepali Icon The Lord Buddha as there are millions of Buddhist people all over the world and Nepal is becoming not only a famous destination for adventurous activities for the tourists from the different corners of the world but also it's in the way to become one of the top destinations for the religious travellers.
But unfortunately, still there is a illusion in the western society and even in some of Asian communities that The Lord Buddha was born in India not in Nepal. India is continuously attaracting Buddha lovers to it's land, misinforming them about Buddha using it's big sized media houses, worldwide travel operators, writers and moviemakers. They are just getting benifit from the people who were supposed to travel Nepal as the birth place of such a great person.
How the people are selfmotived?
As part of preparation of this great day most of the internet using Nepalese all around the world are doing their best to spread the peace message by posting the facts about Lord Buddha to their personal blogs, websites and different social sites and letteing their friends from different nations.
please visit this link for daily updates of recent activities.
http://www.worldamity.wordpress.com
Still some people are thinking this is a political activity and some are asking money for every posts they make on their pages on social sites.
Once again, this is not a political party's program and it is not set to collect money so please please please keep posting something about The Buddha on your social site pages, websites and different online/paper/audio visual medias. Your each words can inform the world the facts about Buddha and Nepal.
Thank you
Sujan Neupane
Sydney Australia
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Dirty Controversy about Kapilvastu (Part 1)
* H. L. Singh
Many great men, writers and distinguished people have expressed their concern about the sancity of Lumbini, being the birthplace of the Buddha. Edwin Arnold, the author of the poem ‘Light of Asia’, who was and is still regarded as a great Buddhist thinker, wrote: “One of the greatest of the epoch-making events in the spiritual history of mankind was marked when the “Light of Asia” was set out brightly in the central part of India, or, in other words, when the spring of Great Wisdom and Compassion gushed up there, which, in the course of time, has come to enrich the human mind through and over many centuries to follow up to the present day.”
There is a good deal of writings intended to establish connection of Kapilvastu with Koshala of India to the extent of saying that Kapilvastu was under Koshala. Sukumar Dutt, the author of ‘Buddhist Monks and Monasteries of India’, wrote: “We must not forget that the Sakiya country, at least, which Buddhism arose, stretched up in the lower slopes of the Himalayas. And in the seventh century B.C. the most powerful Kingdom was the Northern Kosala, whose capital lay under the hills, and whose power mainly depended on the mountaineers drawn from its vicinity”.
Sukumar Dutt also said that “He who brought Lumbini out of the mist of legends in the light of topography was no other than Emperor Asoka”.
Another Indian writer Dr. Nanda Kishore Devraj wrote: “The Buddha was born in 623 B.C. His father Shuddhodana, who was a king of solar dynasty under Koshala, was the chief administrator of the Shakya republic”.
In the same light the book “2500 years of Buddhism” mentioned, “It was the seventh century before the Christian era. The civilized part of India was divided into sixteen realms, eight of which were Kingdoms and the remaining republics. Among the kingdoms the most powerful were Magadha and Kosala. The little Shakya republic was ruled by the king of Kosala who received tribute from the former. The Shakyas were of the Kshatriya solar race and called themselves rajas. In the middle of the century, their chief Shuddhodana had his capital at Kapilvastu”.
Among the sacred places of Buddhism, Lumbini where the blessed one was born must inevitably come first. It has been identified with the site of Rummindei in the Nepalese Terai. As the birthplace of the Buddha, the site grew in sancity and importance….. of course, there still stands at the site a pillar engraved with an inscription commemorating the great Ashoka’s pilgrimage to this place in the twentieth year after his consecration. “Here the Buddha was born”, says the emperor, and this statement proves the identity of the sanctified spot beyond any doubt”.
The British writer John Snelling shared the above view in the following words: The man who was to become the Buddha was born about 563 BC of Kshatriya stock at a place called Lumbini. This is situated in the Terai region of what today is the republic of Nepal, immediately below the Himalayan foothills on the northern edge of the plain of the River Ganges, due north of the holy city of Baneres. He was given the name Siddharth and took the clan-name Gautama. His father, Shuddhodana, has been variously described as the King or leader of a local people known as the Shakyas or even just as prominent citizen of Kapilvasthu, the Shakyan capital. The Shakyas were in fact just of a number of more or less independent people then inhabiting this part of northern India who were politically organized into tribal republics ruled by elected aristocracies”.
John Snelling also cleverly noted that “Nepal can claim the supreme Buddhists accolade of being technically the Buddha’s birthplace, Lumbini, which lies just inside its southern frontiers, is one of the four great pilgrimage-places for Buddhists”.
Writing on the Chinese pilgrims’ view about Lumbini, Indian writer Avadesh Singh said that Chinese pilgrims have mentioned that Gautam Buddha was born in Lumbini forest close to Kapilvastu, the capital of Shakyas. It is worth mentioning that the Lumbini forest was 8 miles far south of the capital. Hiuen Tsang has written that Shuddhodana was the king of Kapilvastu, who was dependent on the king of Koshala.
The Japanese writer Nikkyo Niwano was misinformed when he said “The historical Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in north-eastern India about twenty-five hundred years ago… Shuddondana was the ruler of the Shakya state which, as was the custom in India at that time, was known by the name of the rulling tribe, rather than by the name of the land it occupied. The state of the Shakyas was a small country extending from the northern border of India into what is now southern Nepal. The remains of its capital city, Kapilvastu, and the palace in which the Buddha grew up still survive to remind us of the days when the land of the Shakyas was a vital minor state in northern India”.
Controversy over Kapilvastu
That Gautam Buddha was born at Lumbini of Kapilvastu is a historical fact. Kapilvastu named after saint Kapila (early 6th century B.C.) was known not only as the home city of the Buddha, but was also known for its rith cultural heritage and natural splendors.
The hermitage of saint Kapila was on the side of the Bhagirathi river (which is now called Banganga). When King Bimbisara of Magadha asked the Buddha his birthplace, the Buddha said that it was the place from where the Himalayas could be seen. This shows that Kapilvastu was full-fledged city gifted with natural beauties. Later it was destroyed and due to neglet and natural wear and tear, identification of it became difficult.
Against this historical background, there are some attempts to distort this fact claiming that Kapilvastu is Piprahawa located in Uttar Pradesh, India. Sometime ago, Indian newspaper Aaj published a news headlined “Piprahawa in India is Kapilvastu, the home of Gautam Buddha.” In the past, too, there were attempts by Indian scholars to establish that the Buddha was born in India and that the Buddha was an Indian. In books and other writings originating from India, there are numerous mentions of this claim. As a result of this claim, a vast population of the western world was misinformed that the Buddha was born in India. The buddha was also called the ninth incarnation of Lort Vishnu. Because of the largeness of size, India has a great advantage over Nepal. The government of Uttar Pradesh is making maximum use of this advantage.
It is true that Gautam Buddha attained Enlightenment at Bodhagaya, Bihar, did Dharmachakraparivartana(turning the wheel of the doctrine) at Sarnath, a site near Benares, and passed away at Kushinagara in the Kasia district of India. This fact provided enough strength to the Indian scholarship to push ahead their claim. Since India was and is still a window of oriental culture and civillisation to the western world, it is but natural that Indian writings and literature should make a tremendous influence all over the world.
The main attraction of the Indian claim is the popularity of Buddhism. Even great Indian scholars were tempted to call the Buddha an Indian. K.M.Munshi and R.R.Diwakar wrote: “….. in 543 B.C. in Lumbini in Nepal’s Western Terai, he was born of an ancient Indian prince five centuries before Jesus. His father ruled the tribe of Shakyas under the shadow of the Himalayas”.
D. Servepalli Radhakrishnan wrote: “The Buddha did not tell that he was announcing a new religion. He was born, grew up, and died a Hindu”.
Inspite of the above statements about Kapilvastu, the Shakya tribe to which the Buddha belonged to, the location of Kapilvastu was made a subject of controversy. There is no controversy about Lumbini, the pillar erected by Ashoka in 249 B.C., events of the Buddha’s birth, childhood, renunciation, attainment of Nirvana and finally Parivirvana. Kapilvastu was referred to as the city where King Shuddhodhan reigned. It is a historical fact that the Buddha came to Kapilvastu after the attainment of Enlightenment, met his father, wife Yashodhara and son Rahula. The visit of Emperor Ashoka, Chinese prlgrims Fa Hsein in 403 A.D. and Hiuen-tsang in 636 to Kapilvastu, all the three from the Indian territory, and the accounts available from both the Chinese prilgrims found Kapilvastu in complete ruins. Hiuen Tsang wrote that the palace of King Shuddhodana was “in utter ruins” with some of its parts conveted into monastries and occupied by the mons of the the Hinayana faith. The controversy that Piprahawa is ancient Kapilvastu was raised in 1971 by Director of the Piprahawa expedition and archaeologist K.M. Srivastava. He made this claim on the basis of the discovery of an ‘original’ casket with relics of the Buddha. The story of the destruction Kapilvastu by Prince Virudhaka also called Vidudabha, son of Prasenjit, around 545 B.C. is a genuine story recorded in history. After the destruction of Kapilvastu, the Shakyas of that place went to different places….. some to Rajgriha and Vaisali, some to Vedi….. and others fled to Piplival (Piprahawa) where the Sakyas were afterwards known as Maurya.
The most important event in the history of Kapilvastu was the massacre of its citizens and the sack of the city by King Virudhaka of Kosala in B.C. 545. Virudhaka entered the town at the time of a truce and began killing the inhabitants washing the stone slabs of the Assembly Hall (Santhagara), where he was humiliated. When Lord Buddha visited Kapilvastu, after its destruction, he was ill wia a headache. Ananda, the disciple of the Buddha, was also greatly shocked seeing the city like a cemetery. When Ajatasatru of Magadha heard this, the same year he attacked over Kosala, burnt Virudhaka and his minister Ambarisha alive and annexed both Kosala and Kapilvastu in his dominion.
It is said that after the revival of Hinduism and after the emergence of Gupta rulers, Shakyas, Kapilvastu and Buddhism suffered a setback and the importance of Kapilvastu declined. The once prosperous and shining Kapilvastu was neglected. And, in course of time, due to this negligence, Kapilvastu was nearly forgotten. But this argument is less convincing. The destruction of Kapilvastu by Virudhaka is a concrete evidence of the disappearance of Kapilvastu.
According to scholar Bhuwan Lal Pradhan, the Indian government’s motive in identifying Piprahawa as ancient Kapilvastu is worth suspicions as well as baseless. It is Tilaurakot which is ancient Kapilvastu. There are still the remains of ancient monuments, structures like stupas, monasteries, etc. The remains of the palace of Kingh Shuddhodana, old coins found there and the presence of the Banganga river known in the past by the name of Bhagirathi are living proofs of the authenticity of Tilaurakot as ancient Kapilvastu.
The claim made by the Uttar Pradesh government based on the discovery of a casket with the relic of the Buddha and the terracotta seals and structural remains is motivated by factors other than the cultural and archaeilogical ones. Besides this propaganda, the government of Uttar Pradesh has undertaken construction works to give a face-lift to Piprahawa and to win recognitin for Piprahawa as ancient Kapilvastu. Naugadh district of Uttar Pradesh was renamed Kapilvastu district some years ago. Besides this, some places of Uttar Pradesh have been renamed Siddhartha Janapath. Thus, it is evident that the Uttar Pradesh government’s move, has been calculated towards seeking recognition of Piprahawa as ancient Kapilvastu.
Even before the discovery of the Lumbini pillar by Dr. A. Fuhrer, efforts had been made to study about the archaelogical treasures in Nepal and India. Charles Allen writes: “Vincent Smith, a Trinity College Dublin man, son of a well-known Anglo-Irish numismatist and archaeologist, … read many times over the latest translations of the Indian travels of Fa Hian, Huan Tsang and others. While serving as magistrate of the town of Basti, about a hundred and twenty-five miles north of Benares, he thoroughly explored the surrounding countryside – and came to the conclusion that many of Cunningham’s identifications of Buddhist sites in the plains country south of the Himalayan hills of Nepal were wrong. In 1885 Mr. Duncan Ricketts, manager of an estate whose lands extended to the Nepalese border, came to him with news of a stone pillar sticking up out of the ground about five miles north of his bungalow, well inside Nepalese territory. It was inadvisable for a British official to tresspass across the frontier, so Simith asked for a rubbing to be made of the inscriptions on the pillar. They were identified as ‘medieval scribbling’, so Vincent Smith left the matter there. It was probably the greatest mistake he ever made.
Like Vincent Smith, Dr. Lawrence Austine Waddell pored over Cunni gham’s Archaelogical Survey Reports and came to the conclusion that Cunnigham had got a lot wrong, particularly in his siting of the places associated with Gautam Buddha’s birth and death.
For many years past, Waddell later wrote, “I had been devoting a portion of holidays to a search for this celebrated ancient site- Kapilvastu as well as for that of the Buddha’s death – Kusinagara ever since I had realised that General Cunningham’s identification of the villages of Bhuila and Kesia with those sites was clearly altogether false.
Against this historical background, there are some attempts to distort the fact that the Buddha was born in India claiming that Kapilvastu is Piprahawa which is located in Uttar Pradesh, India. There were attempts by Indian scholars to establish that the Buddha was born in India. In books and other writings originating from India, this claim has been made.
As a result of this claim, a vast population of the western world was misinformed that the Buddha was born in India. An effort in this direction had already been made in the past. Because of the largeness of the size of territory, the vast academic settlements and the numerous communication networks existing in India, India has a great advantage over Nepal as far as publicising India as the birthplace of the Buddha is concerned.
The fact that Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment at Bodhgaya in Bihar, delivered the first sermons at Sarnath, a site near Benares and passed away at Kushinagar in India Provided enough strength to the Indian scholarship to push their claim ahead.
Prof. A.T.D.E Perara of Sri Lanka who made a study of Kapilvastu wrote, Kapilvastu, according to Hsuan Tsang had the circuit of 4.000 li (equivalent to 664 miles). Hence, the argument put forward in favour of the tiny village of Piprahawa as representing the whole territory of the Shakya republic by an official in the service of the Department of Archaeological Survey of India carries little sense. As a matter of fact, it was the same department itself which after an intensive study of concerned areas declared at the close of the last century that Kapilvastu of Buddha’s days is represented as today’s Tilaurakot region of Nepal.
Mr. Perara said further: “The search for the lost site of Kapilvastu, as mentioned above, was intensified only after the discovery in 1898 of Peppe’s relic-casket from the stupa at Piprahawa. The case of Piprahawa was then under full consideration, but it has to be rejected in the light of newer buildings. Then was focused scholars’ attention on Tilaurakot. It was extensively explored and parts of it were even excavated. An exhaustive study of Buddhist texts, travel accounts of the Chinese travellers, new find from Tilaurakot and all other relevant materials was made. Only thereafter experts working under the Department of Archaelogical Survey of India jointly arrived at the conclusion that Tilaurakot was Kapilvastu. Thus scientifically was this fact established, and it came to be unversally recognized with no ground for controversy”.
Therefore, Perara says that the official of Indian Department of Archaeology K.M. Srivastava who said that Piprahawa was Tilaurakot was baseless.
This claim was covered by Indian newspaper ‘The Indian Express’ on April 13, 1973. On Jan 24, 1976, the ‘Times of India’ wrote, “Scholars held for a long time that Tilaurakot was Kapilvastu even though there was no solid archaelogical evidence to do so. The basis for this erroneous belief (i.e. Tilaurakot is Kapilvastu) was the account given by the Chinese pilgrims…
In 300 A.D. Fa Hien went from Kapilvastu to Lumbini… in 629 Hien(Hisuan) Tsang also went from Kapilvastu to Lumbini.
K.M. Srivastava once again wrote in the ‘Illustrated Weekly of Indi’ on May 16, 1979, “The … indication of Piprahawa being the site of ancient Kapilvastu was furnished by the Chinese traveller Fa Hsien. According to his record Lumbini should be nine miles east of Kapilvastu… The difference supported by the scholars between the distance recorded by Fa Hsien and Hsuan Tsang was unwarranted.
The news item also carried a photograph displaying the structural remains traced around the stupa at Piprahawa under the title “A scene of Vihara found in the excavation in Piprahawa.” Similarly, the Indian Hindi periodical ‘Dharmayug’ also printed a photograph showing the remains of the palace of Shuddhodana, the father of Gautam Buddha in May 1973.
The above claims sadly expose that the archaelogist K.M. Srivastava was quite ignorant of the distance between Lumbini and Piprahawa. The actual distance between the two places is nearly ten miles. Also, the dates given by him about the visits of Fa Hsien and Hsuang Tsang to the region of Kapilvastu are hopelessly wrong. As noted above, the conclusion that Tilaurakot was Kapilvastu was based on the archaelogical and other evidences and on a joint decision of a group of experts. It is ridiculous that one single individual should challenge the views of a group of experts and denounce the entire previous work without any concrete evidence.
Harischandra Lal Singh (H.L. Singh) is a well known Buddhist scholar and has written many books on Buddhism. This article was published in “Anandabhoomi” monthly in Aswin issue.
Source: worldamity.wordpress.com
Many great men, writers and distinguished people have expressed their concern about the sancity of Lumbini, being the birthplace of the Buddha. Edwin Arnold, the author of the poem ‘Light of Asia’, who was and is still regarded as a great Buddhist thinker, wrote: “One of the greatest of the epoch-making events in the spiritual history of mankind was marked when the “Light of Asia” was set out brightly in the central part of India, or, in other words, when the spring of Great Wisdom and Compassion gushed up there, which, in the course of time, has come to enrich the human mind through and over many centuries to follow up to the present day.”
There is a good deal of writings intended to establish connection of Kapilvastu with Koshala of India to the extent of saying that Kapilvastu was under Koshala. Sukumar Dutt, the author of ‘Buddhist Monks and Monasteries of India’, wrote: “We must not forget that the Sakiya country, at least, which Buddhism arose, stretched up in the lower slopes of the Himalayas. And in the seventh century B.C. the most powerful Kingdom was the Northern Kosala, whose capital lay under the hills, and whose power mainly depended on the mountaineers drawn from its vicinity”.
Sukumar Dutt also said that “He who brought Lumbini out of the mist of legends in the light of topography was no other than Emperor Asoka”.
Another Indian writer Dr. Nanda Kishore Devraj wrote: “The Buddha was born in 623 B.C. His father Shuddhodana, who was a king of solar dynasty under Koshala, was the chief administrator of the Shakya republic”.
In the same light the book “2500 years of Buddhism” mentioned, “It was the seventh century before the Christian era. The civilized part of India was divided into sixteen realms, eight of which were Kingdoms and the remaining republics. Among the kingdoms the most powerful were Magadha and Kosala. The little Shakya republic was ruled by the king of Kosala who received tribute from the former. The Shakyas were of the Kshatriya solar race and called themselves rajas. In the middle of the century, their chief Shuddhodana had his capital at Kapilvastu”.
Among the sacred places of Buddhism, Lumbini where the blessed one was born must inevitably come first. It has been identified with the site of Rummindei in the Nepalese Terai. As the birthplace of the Buddha, the site grew in sancity and importance….. of course, there still stands at the site a pillar engraved with an inscription commemorating the great Ashoka’s pilgrimage to this place in the twentieth year after his consecration. “Here the Buddha was born”, says the emperor, and this statement proves the identity of the sanctified spot beyond any doubt”.
The British writer John Snelling shared the above view in the following words: The man who was to become the Buddha was born about 563 BC of Kshatriya stock at a place called Lumbini. This is situated in the Terai region of what today is the republic of Nepal, immediately below the Himalayan foothills on the northern edge of the plain of the River Ganges, due north of the holy city of Baneres. He was given the name Siddharth and took the clan-name Gautama. His father, Shuddhodana, has been variously described as the King or leader of a local people known as the Shakyas or even just as prominent citizen of Kapilvasthu, the Shakyan capital. The Shakyas were in fact just of a number of more or less independent people then inhabiting this part of northern India who were politically organized into tribal republics ruled by elected aristocracies”.
John Snelling also cleverly noted that “Nepal can claim the supreme Buddhists accolade of being technically the Buddha’s birthplace, Lumbini, which lies just inside its southern frontiers, is one of the four great pilgrimage-places for Buddhists”.
Writing on the Chinese pilgrims’ view about Lumbini, Indian writer Avadesh Singh said that Chinese pilgrims have mentioned that Gautam Buddha was born in Lumbini forest close to Kapilvastu, the capital of Shakyas. It is worth mentioning that the Lumbini forest was 8 miles far south of the capital. Hiuen Tsang has written that Shuddhodana was the king of Kapilvastu, who was dependent on the king of Koshala.
The Japanese writer Nikkyo Niwano was misinformed when he said “The historical Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in north-eastern India about twenty-five hundred years ago… Shuddondana was the ruler of the Shakya state which, as was the custom in India at that time, was known by the name of the rulling tribe, rather than by the name of the land it occupied. The state of the Shakyas was a small country extending from the northern border of India into what is now southern Nepal. The remains of its capital city, Kapilvastu, and the palace in which the Buddha grew up still survive to remind us of the days when the land of the Shakyas was a vital minor state in northern India”.
Controversy over Kapilvastu
That Gautam Buddha was born at Lumbini of Kapilvastu is a historical fact. Kapilvastu named after saint Kapila (early 6th century B.C.) was known not only as the home city of the Buddha, but was also known for its rith cultural heritage and natural splendors.
The hermitage of saint Kapila was on the side of the Bhagirathi river (which is now called Banganga). When King Bimbisara of Magadha asked the Buddha his birthplace, the Buddha said that it was the place from where the Himalayas could be seen. This shows that Kapilvastu was full-fledged city gifted with natural beauties. Later it was destroyed and due to neglet and natural wear and tear, identification of it became difficult.
Against this historical background, there are some attempts to distort this fact claiming that Kapilvastu is Piprahawa located in Uttar Pradesh, India. Sometime ago, Indian newspaper Aaj published a news headlined “Piprahawa in India is Kapilvastu, the home of Gautam Buddha.” In the past, too, there were attempts by Indian scholars to establish that the Buddha was born in India and that the Buddha was an Indian. In books and other writings originating from India, there are numerous mentions of this claim. As a result of this claim, a vast population of the western world was misinformed that the Buddha was born in India. The buddha was also called the ninth incarnation of Lort Vishnu. Because of the largeness of size, India has a great advantage over Nepal. The government of Uttar Pradesh is making maximum use of this advantage.
It is true that Gautam Buddha attained Enlightenment at Bodhagaya, Bihar, did Dharmachakraparivartana(turning the wheel of the doctrine) at Sarnath, a site near Benares, and passed away at Kushinagara in the Kasia district of India. This fact provided enough strength to the Indian scholarship to push ahead their claim. Since India was and is still a window of oriental culture and civillisation to the western world, it is but natural that Indian writings and literature should make a tremendous influence all over the world.
The main attraction of the Indian claim is the popularity of Buddhism. Even great Indian scholars were tempted to call the Buddha an Indian. K.M.Munshi and R.R.Diwakar wrote: “….. in 543 B.C. in Lumbini in Nepal’s Western Terai, he was born of an ancient Indian prince five centuries before Jesus. His father ruled the tribe of Shakyas under the shadow of the Himalayas”.
D. Servepalli Radhakrishnan wrote: “The Buddha did not tell that he was announcing a new religion. He was born, grew up, and died a Hindu”.
Inspite of the above statements about Kapilvastu, the Shakya tribe to which the Buddha belonged to, the location of Kapilvastu was made a subject of controversy. There is no controversy about Lumbini, the pillar erected by Ashoka in 249 B.C., events of the Buddha’s birth, childhood, renunciation, attainment of Nirvana and finally Parivirvana. Kapilvastu was referred to as the city where King Shuddhodhan reigned. It is a historical fact that the Buddha came to Kapilvastu after the attainment of Enlightenment, met his father, wife Yashodhara and son Rahula. The visit of Emperor Ashoka, Chinese prlgrims Fa Hsein in 403 A.D. and Hiuen-tsang in 636 to Kapilvastu, all the three from the Indian territory, and the accounts available from both the Chinese prilgrims found Kapilvastu in complete ruins. Hiuen Tsang wrote that the palace of King Shuddhodana was “in utter ruins” with some of its parts conveted into monastries and occupied by the mons of the the Hinayana faith. The controversy that Piprahawa is ancient Kapilvastu was raised in 1971 by Director of the Piprahawa expedition and archaeologist K.M. Srivastava. He made this claim on the basis of the discovery of an ‘original’ casket with relics of the Buddha. The story of the destruction Kapilvastu by Prince Virudhaka also called Vidudabha, son of Prasenjit, around 545 B.C. is a genuine story recorded in history. After the destruction of Kapilvastu, the Shakyas of that place went to different places….. some to Rajgriha and Vaisali, some to Vedi….. and others fled to Piplival (Piprahawa) where the Sakyas were afterwards known as Maurya.
The most important event in the history of Kapilvastu was the massacre of its citizens and the sack of the city by King Virudhaka of Kosala in B.C. 545. Virudhaka entered the town at the time of a truce and began killing the inhabitants washing the stone slabs of the Assembly Hall (Santhagara), where he was humiliated. When Lord Buddha visited Kapilvastu, after its destruction, he was ill wia a headache. Ananda, the disciple of the Buddha, was also greatly shocked seeing the city like a cemetery. When Ajatasatru of Magadha heard this, the same year he attacked over Kosala, burnt Virudhaka and his minister Ambarisha alive and annexed both Kosala and Kapilvastu in his dominion.
It is said that after the revival of Hinduism and after the emergence of Gupta rulers, Shakyas, Kapilvastu and Buddhism suffered a setback and the importance of Kapilvastu declined. The once prosperous and shining Kapilvastu was neglected. And, in course of time, due to this negligence, Kapilvastu was nearly forgotten. But this argument is less convincing. The destruction of Kapilvastu by Virudhaka is a concrete evidence of the disappearance of Kapilvastu.
According to scholar Bhuwan Lal Pradhan, the Indian government’s motive in identifying Piprahawa as ancient Kapilvastu is worth suspicions as well as baseless. It is Tilaurakot which is ancient Kapilvastu. There are still the remains of ancient monuments, structures like stupas, monasteries, etc. The remains of the palace of Kingh Shuddhodana, old coins found there and the presence of the Banganga river known in the past by the name of Bhagirathi are living proofs of the authenticity of Tilaurakot as ancient Kapilvastu.
The claim made by the Uttar Pradesh government based on the discovery of a casket with the relic of the Buddha and the terracotta seals and structural remains is motivated by factors other than the cultural and archaeilogical ones. Besides this propaganda, the government of Uttar Pradesh has undertaken construction works to give a face-lift to Piprahawa and to win recognitin for Piprahawa as ancient Kapilvastu. Naugadh district of Uttar Pradesh was renamed Kapilvastu district some years ago. Besides this, some places of Uttar Pradesh have been renamed Siddhartha Janapath. Thus, it is evident that the Uttar Pradesh government’s move, has been calculated towards seeking recognition of Piprahawa as ancient Kapilvastu.
Even before the discovery of the Lumbini pillar by Dr. A. Fuhrer, efforts had been made to study about the archaelogical treasures in Nepal and India. Charles Allen writes: “Vincent Smith, a Trinity College Dublin man, son of a well-known Anglo-Irish numismatist and archaeologist, … read many times over the latest translations of the Indian travels of Fa Hian, Huan Tsang and others. While serving as magistrate of the town of Basti, about a hundred and twenty-five miles north of Benares, he thoroughly explored the surrounding countryside – and came to the conclusion that many of Cunningham’s identifications of Buddhist sites in the plains country south of the Himalayan hills of Nepal were wrong. In 1885 Mr. Duncan Ricketts, manager of an estate whose lands extended to the Nepalese border, came to him with news of a stone pillar sticking up out of the ground about five miles north of his bungalow, well inside Nepalese territory. It was inadvisable for a British official to tresspass across the frontier, so Simith asked for a rubbing to be made of the inscriptions on the pillar. They were identified as ‘medieval scribbling’, so Vincent Smith left the matter there. It was probably the greatest mistake he ever made.
Like Vincent Smith, Dr. Lawrence Austine Waddell pored over Cunni gham’s Archaelogical Survey Reports and came to the conclusion that Cunnigham had got a lot wrong, particularly in his siting of the places associated with Gautam Buddha’s birth and death.
For many years past, Waddell later wrote, “I had been devoting a portion of holidays to a search for this celebrated ancient site- Kapilvastu as well as for that of the Buddha’s death – Kusinagara ever since I had realised that General Cunningham’s identification of the villages of Bhuila and Kesia with those sites was clearly altogether false.
Against this historical background, there are some attempts to distort the fact that the Buddha was born in India claiming that Kapilvastu is Piprahawa which is located in Uttar Pradesh, India. There were attempts by Indian scholars to establish that the Buddha was born in India. In books and other writings originating from India, this claim has been made.
As a result of this claim, a vast population of the western world was misinformed that the Buddha was born in India. An effort in this direction had already been made in the past. Because of the largeness of the size of territory, the vast academic settlements and the numerous communication networks existing in India, India has a great advantage over Nepal as far as publicising India as the birthplace of the Buddha is concerned.
The fact that Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment at Bodhgaya in Bihar, delivered the first sermons at Sarnath, a site near Benares and passed away at Kushinagar in India Provided enough strength to the Indian scholarship to push their claim ahead.
Prof. A.T.D.E Perara of Sri Lanka who made a study of Kapilvastu wrote, Kapilvastu, according to Hsuan Tsang had the circuit of 4.000 li (equivalent to 664 miles). Hence, the argument put forward in favour of the tiny village of Piprahawa as representing the whole territory of the Shakya republic by an official in the service of the Department of Archaeological Survey of India carries little sense. As a matter of fact, it was the same department itself which after an intensive study of concerned areas declared at the close of the last century that Kapilvastu of Buddha’s days is represented as today’s Tilaurakot region of Nepal.
Mr. Perara said further: “The search for the lost site of Kapilvastu, as mentioned above, was intensified only after the discovery in 1898 of Peppe’s relic-casket from the stupa at Piprahawa. The case of Piprahawa was then under full consideration, but it has to be rejected in the light of newer buildings. Then was focused scholars’ attention on Tilaurakot. It was extensively explored and parts of it were even excavated. An exhaustive study of Buddhist texts, travel accounts of the Chinese travellers, new find from Tilaurakot and all other relevant materials was made. Only thereafter experts working under the Department of Archaelogical Survey of India jointly arrived at the conclusion that Tilaurakot was Kapilvastu. Thus scientifically was this fact established, and it came to be unversally recognized with no ground for controversy”.
Therefore, Perara says that the official of Indian Department of Archaeology K.M. Srivastava who said that Piprahawa was Tilaurakot was baseless.
This claim was covered by Indian newspaper ‘The Indian Express’ on April 13, 1973. On Jan 24, 1976, the ‘Times of India’ wrote, “Scholars held for a long time that Tilaurakot was Kapilvastu even though there was no solid archaelogical evidence to do so. The basis for this erroneous belief (i.e. Tilaurakot is Kapilvastu) was the account given by the Chinese pilgrims…
In 300 A.D. Fa Hien went from Kapilvastu to Lumbini… in 629 Hien(Hisuan) Tsang also went from Kapilvastu to Lumbini.
K.M. Srivastava once again wrote in the ‘Illustrated Weekly of Indi’ on May 16, 1979, “The … indication of Piprahawa being the site of ancient Kapilvastu was furnished by the Chinese traveller Fa Hsien. According to his record Lumbini should be nine miles east of Kapilvastu… The difference supported by the scholars between the distance recorded by Fa Hsien and Hsuan Tsang was unwarranted.
The news item also carried a photograph displaying the structural remains traced around the stupa at Piprahawa under the title “A scene of Vihara found in the excavation in Piprahawa.” Similarly, the Indian Hindi periodical ‘Dharmayug’ also printed a photograph showing the remains of the palace of Shuddhodana, the father of Gautam Buddha in May 1973.
The above claims sadly expose that the archaelogist K.M. Srivastava was quite ignorant of the distance between Lumbini and Piprahawa. The actual distance between the two places is nearly ten miles. Also, the dates given by him about the visits of Fa Hsien and Hsuang Tsang to the region of Kapilvastu are hopelessly wrong. As noted above, the conclusion that Tilaurakot was Kapilvastu was based on the archaelogical and other evidences and on a joint decision of a group of experts. It is ridiculous that one single individual should challenge the views of a group of experts and denounce the entire previous work without any concrete evidence.
Harischandra Lal Singh (H.L. Singh) is a well known Buddhist scholar and has written many books on Buddhism. This article was published in “Anandabhoomi” monthly in Aswin issue.
Source: worldamity.wordpress.com
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