Bangalore: 400,000 flowers for 30-ft Buddhist stupa

IBN Bangalore | Updated Jan 19, 2012 at 05:01pm IST

Bangalore: A 30-ft Buddhist stupa made of 400,000 flowers, including 150,000 roses, to convey the message of peace will be the star attraction at the Bangalore flower show beginning on Friday as part of Republic Day celebrations. In front of the floral 34-ft radius stupa built at the Glass House in the famed Lalbagh will stand a statue of Buddha decorated with 75,000 roses and other flowers.

For the first time, a group of florists from the Netherlands will showcase arrangement of flowers from their country at the Glass House, according to P. Hemalatha, director of horticulture department that manages the Lalbagh.

At the Tricycle Film Club: Being in the World

Posted by Sam Mowe on 17 Jan 2012
in Film Tricycle Community

As members of the Tricycle Community we are well aware of the many benefits of being a Buddhist practitioner in the Internet age: online retreats, downloadable Buddhist art, and discussions about life’s important questions, to name a few. However, as Tricycle contributing editor Pico Iyer notes in a recent opinion piece for The New York Times, sometimes our devices leave us “feeling empty and too full all at once.” Being in the World, the current film at the Tricycle Film Club, raises the question of whether we have forgotten what it means to be truly human in today’s technological age. By looking at the lives of three remarkable individuals—a poet and flamenco dancer, a chef, and carpenter—this film, by Tao Ruspoli, celebrates the ability of human beings to find meaning in the world through the mastery of physical, intellectual, and creative skills.

As always, Tricycle Supporting and Sustaining Members can watch the film here and discuss it with the director.

[link]

André Alexander, 1965-2012

from earlytibet.com
Posted on January 25, 2012

I am very sad indeed to hear of the sudden and unexpected death of André Alexander. I had only recently finished working with him on an article based on one of his many conservation projects. Working with André was interesting, educational, and a lot of fun. Like many, many others, I will miss him. If you don’t know his work, please go on to read about his Tibet Heritage Fund here, and have a look at the introduction to his Temples of Lhasa here. Below I reproduce some words by Per Sørensen on André’s many achievements.

* * *

Dr Andre Alexander

17 January 1965 – 21 January 2012

It is with profound regret and in deepest sorrow that we announce the death of Dr Andre Alexander at the age of 47.

Andre had just turned 47 this very week, and was full of enthusiasm and commitment. Over 10 years ago, he co-founded the successful, widely acclaimed and much respected Tibet Heritage Fund (THF) committed to the preservation and documentation of the unique Tibetan architectural monuments and heritage. The organization has launched a large number of rehabilitation projects throughout Central Asia intended to benefit and assist the local residents.

His organization has been involved in assisting local communities in the wake of natural disasters, earthquakes (Yushu) and flashfloods (Ladakh and Sikkim), and initiated countless conservation and restoration projects of sanctuaries and monasteries in India, Tibet, China and Mongolia.

Furore over Buddhist site given to Navy

Andhra Pradesh | Posted on Jan 24, 2012 at 08:58am IST
The New Indian Express

VISAKHAPATNAM: The All India Lay-Buddhist Organisation (AILBO) and the Forum for Better Visakha (FBV) have decided to move the court against the government order transferring around three acres of Thotlakonda Buddhist site to the Indian Navy to construct a 60 feet road making a passage to its own site of around 100 acres beyond Thotlakonda.

The controversial GO No. 37, issued on January 18, kicked up a row in Visakhapatnam. The Thotlakonda Buddhist site is a protected monument on the Bheemili beach road, about 15 km from Visakhapatnam. The monument is located on the top of a hill.

The site spreads over an area of around 600 acres and has been declared a protected monument by the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Incidentally, it is the Indian Navy which discovered the Thotlakonda Buddhist site during the aerial survey conducted for setting up the Naval base in Visakhapatnam.

Monk’s cancer hastens efforts to rebuild Westminster Buddhist temple razed in December fire

An small Buddha used on the grounds at the Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado in Westminster, CO, (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post)

By Monte Whaley
The Denver Post, 01/17/2012

WESTMINSTER — There is more of a sense of urgency now among the Laotian community to rebuild the Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado, which was destroyed by fire in December.

Flames almost claimed the life of Ounkham Vuennasack, the head monk who lived there. He suffered smoke inhalation, mild burns and frostbite.

Vuennasack recovered, but two weeks after the fire, he complained of being dizzy, and doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in the right side of his brain, said Maly Khanthaphixay, whose father was among the key founders of the temple, near West 108th Avenue and Dover Street.

Vuennasack is undergoing chemotherapy and hopes to see the temple rise again, Khanthaphixay said.

“We truly, truly want him to see the temple before it is too late,” she said. “We want to build it for him.”

The estimated cost of rebuilding could reach $600,000. Donations have been pouring in, including from Home Depot, which gave building materials, she said.

The Westminster Fire Department also gave $1,000 from its Fire Victims Relief Fund to help rebuild the structure.

Maly Khanthaphixay stands near statues used in New Year's ceremonies on the grounds of the Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado, which was destroyed by fire. "It's not an exaggeration to say that the temple is our community's heart and soul," she said. (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post)

Investigators determined that bad wiring in the building, built in 1989, most likely caused the fire, Khanthaphixay said.

Many in the congregation want to build a larger temple to make a bigger gathering place for the Laotian community in Denver, which is estimated to be about 3,000 strong.

Members say the temple served as a community center for cultural preservation through dance, music, storytelling, cooking and sports. It also hosted youth programs, gang-intervention programs and community services.

Rattled Heritage: Sikkim’s Monasteries after the Quake

A solidly written consideration of the effects on Buddhist monasteries of the recent earthquake in Sikkim, with reference to recent architectural practices in the region. – Buddhist art news

Hongdi monastery in Sikkim, built in the early 17th century.Suraj GurungHongdi monastery in Sikkim, built in the early 17th century.

The New York Times, January 23, 2012, 1:53 am
By CHETAN RAJ SHRESTHA

For a week after the Sept. 18 earthquake, many towns in Sikkim were cut off from the outside world. The roads slowly became passable and as they did, photographs and video clips began to circulate. Rumors traveled too, especially that the major monasteries – Pemayangtse, Dubdi, Tashiding and Ringhim – were barely standing and that some of the smaller monasteries in Khechiperi and Hongdi had been obliterated.

The truth has proven more reassuring. There was damage, but not outright destruction. However, it is clear that the monasteries, chief items in Sikkim’s meager architectural heritage, were the hardest hit buildings in the quake.

‘A survey of archaeology of the Jaffna peninsula: Pre- Buddhist settlements’

Lecture

The Royal Asiatic Society Sri Lanka lecture ‘A survey of archaeology of the Jaffna peninsula: Pre- Buddhist settlements’ by former ambassador Bandu de Silva will be held at the Gamini Dissanayake auditorium, 96, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 7 on January 30 at 5 pm.

The lecture is open to the public.

[link]

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan makes Buddhist-inspired music like you probably haven’t heard before

from Shambhala SunSpace blog

Listen online

As a Buddhist and a fan of heavy and — okay — weird music, I was pretty thrilled when a friend told me yesterday about Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, a band which, as Pitchfork.com puts it, “blends philosophies of Buddhism, meditation, and mantra with the band’s love of extreme sounds like black metal, industrial, and noise. Their name, for example, pins a reference to the Buddhist deity Yamantaka with a song title from doom metal band Sleep’s Dopesmoker.” [A classic of the doom metal genre, in case you weren't aware.] If you’re into even some of the things that YT//ST blends, you might very well like it yourself. (If not, that could be a whole ‘nother story.)

You can listen to YT//ST, the band’s whole new LP, online here.

There’s a video, too:

Wrathful Deities and Compassionate Bodhisattvas: Aides of the Buddhist Faith

Wisdom King of Great Awe (Daiitoku Myōō), 13th century, Color on wood, CCJAC (1982.002), given in honor of Dr. and Mrs. Sherman Lee by the Clark Family in appreciation of the Lees' friendship and help over many years

Clark Center for Japanese Art & Culture (California)
February 4 – April 28, 2012

Buddhism arrived in Japan in the mid-6th century, carrying in its new form of belief a vast pantheon of deities. Originating in India and passing through China and the Korean peninsula, the Buddhist faith underwent various transformations while keeping the one, ultimate goal: attainment of nirvana or salvation and escape from the endless cycle of rebirth.

Through contact with various Asian cultures where Buddhism was adopted, the Buddhist pantheon increased by the assimilation of Hindu deities, Chinese Daoist and Confucian beliefs, indigenous saints as well as Japanese Shinto deities (kami). The visual arts have become an important medium to transmit and teach Buddhist doctrine and the diversity and extent of the pantheon confronts people with a maze of Buddhist imagery.

Tibetan Culture Remains Strong

RFA/Thomas L. Kelly The Dalai Lama receiving a pipal leaf with the figure of Buddha carved on it at the Kalachakra event.

Radio Free Asia
2012-01-15
The culture in the 21st century is one of youth, music, and nationalism.

A combination of Tibetan rituals, folklore, music, dance, and trade epitomized the ancient Kalachakra Buddhist festival which concluded last week, presided over by Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

On the final day of the 10-day event hosted in Bodhgaya, the Indian town believed to be the place where Buddha attained enlightenment, the Dalai Lama conducted a grand ceremony that spanned centuries of Tibetan civilization.

The event concluded with classical Tibetan songs of rare beauty, sung by young Tibetan students from TIPA, the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, the first institution the Dalai Lama established after he went into exile more than half a century ago.

Every street in Bodhgaya was lined with stalls heaving with religious posters, prayer beads, icons of the Buddha statues and Hindu deities.