The Maitreya Project is an international organisation, operating since 1990, which intends to construct statues of Maitreya

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

in India and perhaps elsewhere. Initial plans were for a 152-metre (500 ft) colossal statue, to be built in either

Kushinagar Kushinagar ( Hindustani: or ; Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is a town in the Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is an important and popular Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha attained ''parinirvana''. Etym ...

Bodhgaya Bodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment ( ...

. These plans have since changed, and the Maitreya Project now intends to construct relatively modest statues in both towns. The project was initiated by the

Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) was founded in 1975 by Lamas Thubten Yeshe and Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, who began teaching Mahayana Buddhism to Western students in Nepal. The FPMT has grown to encompass over ...

, an organisation within the

Gelug 240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous")Kay, David N. (2007). ''Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantati ...

school of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

. Jessica Marie Falcone's ''Battling the Buddha of Love: A Cultural Biography of the Greatest Statue Never Built'' (Cornell University Press, 2018; based on her Ph.D. dissertation in cultural anthropology for Cornell) is about controversy over the planned statue between FPMT participants and Kushinagari farmers, and the meaning of the statue to both sides.

Laying of the foundation stone in Kushinagar

On Friday 13 December 2013 the State Government of Uttar Pradesh handed over approximately of land for the site of the Maitreya Project in Kushinagar. The land is immediately adjacent to the Parinirvana Temple denoting the place where Buddha Shakyamuni passed into

Parinirvana In Buddhism, ''parinirvana'' (Sanskrit: '; Pali: ') is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occurs upon the death of someone who has attained ''nirvana'' during their lifetime. It implies a release from '' '', karma and rebirth a ...

, and the Rambhar Stupa which marks the holy site of Buddha’s cremation. On that same day, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh,

Akhilesh Yadav Akhilesh is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Akhilesh Das (1961–2017), educationist, professor, Indian politician and philanthropist * Akhilesh K. Gaharwar (born 1982), Indian academic and Professor at Texas A&M University * ...

, presided over a foundation stone laying ceremony on this land. Maitreya Project's Spiritual Director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Board of Trustees of the Maitreya Project Trust attended as state guests.

Finances

Maitreya Project International Calif Gross Ann Rev 2001-2008

The Project reports for 1990–2008 outgoings of more than US$20 million and investment of more than US$11 million. Nita Ing has taken over responsibility for the funding of the statue in Bodhgaya.

Criticism

There has been criticism in the press about some aspects of the Project, including the compulsory acquisition, under "India's Land Acquisition Act", by the State Government of of private land, homes and small farms; which are intended to be leased to the Project, for construction of the statue and related infrastructure, including "landscaped park housing a cathedral, monastery, convent, guesthouse, library and food halls...". Peter Kedge, former Director and CEO of the Maitreya Project has posted a number of replies to these criticisms. Following the 1,262nd day of "peaceful dharna", in August 2010, by the majority of local farmers against the compulsory acquisition of their farms, the Cabinet Secretary of Uttar Pradesh announced a reconsideration of support for the Project.

References

Academic Papers

Falcone, Jessica. 2011. �
The Buddhist Lama and the Indian Farmer: Negotiating Modernity and Tradition in the Development Plans for Kushinagar, India.
�� In ''Inequality in a Globalizing World: Perspectives, Processes, and Experiences,'' edited by Sangeeta Parashar Nandikotkur and Yong Wang, 107-117. Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt Publishing.

External links

Maitreya Project page of the FPMT websiteVideos posted on YouTube by Maitreya ProjectBBC Documentary
*Pepper, Danie
Giant Buddha's tough love will drive out poor

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

, 9 September 2007 on The Buddhist Channel *Aros Architect
Kushingar Masterplan
with location map and simulated aerial view
Fearing unrest, UP govt scales down Maitreya Buddha project
''Indian Express'', Thu 26 May 2011. {{Statues in India Colossal Buddha statues Indian art Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition Proposed statues in India Buddhism in India Statues in Uttar Pradesh Colossal statues in India Maitreya