As the culmination of fifteen years of planning and preparation, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) conducted a Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony for its Maitreya Project today in Kushinagar, India, the sacred pilgrimage site of Shakyamuni Buddha’s parinirvana. The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh state, Akhilesh Yadav, was set to preside over the ceremony, along with FPMT’s Spiritual Director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. It marks the official gifting of a nearly 275-acre site, the development of which will honor Maitreya, the bodhisattva who is said to be the one who will appear as the fifth Buddha of this “Fortunate Eon” after the final disappearance of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings. Organizers anticipated a crowd of up to 100,000 to be in attendance.
According to the Maitreya Project website, the Kushinagar project parallels the one originally planned in Bodh Gaya, which was to feature a 500-foot statue of Maitreya. Bogged down by years of controversy (see also the Times of India‘s roundup of stories from the past year) concerning the displacement of farmers to acquire the sizable parcel of land such an enormous statue requires, the project now plans for the statue to be 150 feet tall.
Buddhists and others worldwide have become familiar with the Maitreya Project through an ongoing tour of the relics that will be enshrined in the statue.
Posted on: December 13, 2013