A visit to Vishwa Shanti Stupa

Vishwa Shanti Stupa, New Delhi was inaugurated on November 14, 2007 and dedicated to the people of India and the World with hopes of cultivating long-lasting peace as envisioned by Fujii Guruji. This work was made possible by the Shanti Stupa Society in partnership with D.D.A. and Nipponzan Myohoji. Relics and Sacred Objects for this Stupa were donated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the President of Sri Lanka, the President of Mongolia, and the Prime Minister of Nepal.

Nipponzan Myohoji was founded by Most Venerable Nichidatsu Fujii (1885-1985) with the mission of building Shanti Stupas all over the world as a way of creating peace and transforming people’s mind and heart. This order has built more than eighty Shanti Stupas all across the globe.  Nishidatsu Fuji came to India in the year 1931 and became a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi who named him as "Fuji Guruji". He also set up the Japanese Buddhist order of Nipponzan Myohoji. The three monkeys depicted here convey the message of Mahatma Gandhi--speak no evil; hear no evil and see no evil. These monkeys were gifted by Fuji to Mahatma Gandhi. 

The Stupa stands against the backdrop of some magnificent historical buildings like the Old Fort and Humayun's tomb.  It was built at a cost of two crore rupees. The "Vishwa Shanti Stupa" is 28 meters high. Its construction was inspired by the world famous Sanchi Stupa at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh. It's this hemispherical dome which inspired the chief architect of Rashtrapati Bhavan, Edwin Lutyen, who built the imposing dome over the President's house.The newest stupa at Delhi is the 74th in the series of stupas or pagodas around the world.

A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds, and to help unite them in their search for world peace.  The first Peace Pagodas were built as a symbol of peace in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki where the atomic bombs took the lives of over 150,000 people.  By 2000, eighty Peace Pagodas had been built around the world in Europe, Asia, and the United States. The Peace Pagoda was awarded the Courage of Conscience award June 5, 1998 in Sherborn, MA.

Other than Delhi, such stupas have also been built at Rajgir, Darjeeling, Vaishali and Ladakh.   Some of the international locations where more such stupas have been established are Hanaokayama, Sapporo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Mount Kijosumi, Narita-chi in Japan, Lumbini, Pokhara in Nepal, Jeju island in Korea, Ampara, Unawatuna in Sri Lanka, Brisbane in Australia, Vienna in Austria, Birmingham, Milton Keynes in England, Comiso in Italy, Kuchary in Poland, Benalmadena in Spain, Manitoba in Canada.

Here you can find some more of my clicks of this monument.


This information has been compiled from various websites found using google.com