| Shanti Stupa | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Tibetan Buddhism |
| Location | |
| Location | Ratnagiri Hills, Rajgir, Nalanda District, Bihar, India |
| Country | India |
| Geographic coordinates | IN-BR 25°00′44″N 85°44′45″E / 25.01222°N 85.74583°E |
| Architecture | |
| Founder | Nichidatsu Fujii |
| Date established | 1969 |
Vishwa Shanti Stupa ('World Peace Stupa') is a large white Peace Pagoda in Rajgir, Nalanda District, Bihar, near Gitai Mandir. Statues of the Buddha are mounted on the stupa in four directions. It also has a small Japanese Buddhist temple with a large park. There is a temple near the stupa where prayers are conducted for universal peace. The initial pagoda was completed in 1969. New initiatives in 1993[1] resulted in the present form. It is one of around 80 Peace Pagodas which have been built around the world by the neo-Buddhist organisation Nipponzan Myohoji.[2] These were a dream of Nichidatsu Fujii, inspired by Mohandas K. Gandhi, as a reaction to the atomic bombing of Japan, the first, and more well known Vishwa Shanti stupa, being built on Ratnagiri Hill in Rajgir.[3]
- ^ M. V. Kamath, Gandhi's Coolie: Life & Times of Ramkrishna Bajaj, p. 354, Allied Publishers, 1988 ISBN 81-7023-487-5.
- ^ J.A. Kempf, Silicon Valley Monk: From Metaphysics to Reality on the Buddhist Path, Dharma Gates Publishing, 2014 ISBN 0-9908951-0-6.
- ^ Aruna Deshpande, Buddhist India Rediscovered, Jaico Publishing House, 2013 ISBN 81-8495-247-3.