Buddha Smriti Park also known as Buddha Memorial Park (as translated in English) is an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

located on Frazer Road near

Patna Junction Patna Junction (station code PNBE) is a major railway station in the capital city of Patna in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the main railway station serving Patna. It falls under the Danapur division of the East Central Railway zone of the In ...

Patna, India Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 ...

. This park has been designed by Vikram Lall and developed by the

Bihar Government The Government of Bihar, known locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Bihar and its 9 divisions which consist of 38 districts . It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Bihar, a jud ...

to commemorate the 2554th birth anniversary of the

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 ...

. This park was inaugurated by the 14th

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...

Overview

The park has been constructed at the place where once the historical Bankipur Central Jail of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

era existed. After a new central jail was built at Beur on the outskirts of

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

, the old jail become redundant. The park is a brainchild of the Chief Minister of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician, who is serving as Chief Minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previous held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. The leader of the Janata Dal (Unit ...

. Tibetan spiritual leader,

, on 27 May 2010 inaugurated Buddha Smriti Park and planted two saplings one was brought from Bodh Gaya and the other from

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

in Sri Lanka of the sacred Bodhi tree. A branch of the original Mahabodhi tree at Bodh Gaya is believed to have been taken to Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka by Emperor

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

's son Mahendra. The Sri Lankan delegation had brought a sapling from this tree to planted at the Buddha Smriti Park. The central attraction of this park is the stupa, known as Patliputra Karuna Stupa, 200 feet high, situated in the middle of the park. This 22 acre park located in the heart of city house the pot containing holy ashes of Buddha inside the main stupa. Previously the pot containing ashes of Buddha was for display in

Patna Museum Patna Museum is the state museum of the Indian state of Bihar. Started on 3 April 1917 during the British Raj to house the historical artefacts found in the vicinity of Patna, it is in the style of Mughal and Rajput architecture and is known ...

, pot was earlier excavated from Vaishali. The park has a museum, where Buddhist relics from Japan,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, Sri Lanka and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

have been installed. The park is also having meditation hall for prayers. The entry charge is 20 per individual be it child or an elder person. It now has a tall statue of Buddha.

Attractions

Laser show

There is a laser show in the park in the evenings. The show is related to the history of Bihar from the time of Ramayana to post Independence.

Meditation centre

The Meditation Centre has been developed to create a unique facility dedicated to the derived from plan of the monasteries in the ancient

Mahavihara Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas. Mahaviharas of India A range of monasteries grew up in ancient Magadha (modern Bihar ...

of Nalanda. It consists of a total of 60 air conditioned cells, each having a view of the Stupa enshrining the sacred relics of Sakyamuni Buddha. Its library has books on Buddhism along with a large Audio-Visual Hall. The Hall has been designed to be used by the groups visiting the park.

Smriti Bagh (Park of Memories)

The park of memories is a landscaped open space which have votive stupas from countries across the world, each designed in the architectural pattern representative of the specific country. The park symbolically represents the dispersion of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

from Bihar to various regions of the world. It has a seating capacity of around 5000 people.

Museum

The museum building impersonates the free flowing natural form of the Buddhist Cave Monasteries of India that evolved from the earliest examples of Barabar Caves found in Bihar. The museum will showcase the life and times of Buddha through original artefacts, 3-D models, audio — visual medium and multimedia presentations.

Stupa

The stupa enshrining the holy relics of the Sakyamuni Buddha, is the focal point of the Buddha Smriti Park. Ambulatory paths around the stupa for parikrama have been provided at three levels that lead to the highest level of the building. The relics are enshrined within the secure glass structure of the stupa and is accessible for viewing. Holy relics from Japan, Myanmar, South Korea, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Tibet can be seen here.

Bodhi trees

The park has saplings of holy Bodhi trees which have been received from Mahameghavana Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka and Bodh Gaya, India.

References

External links

* Archived 6 August 2013. {{Tourist attractions in Patna Parks in Patna Stupas in India Urban public parks 2010 establishments in Bihar