Dharma Kaya Buddha Mandala in Pokhara to be developed as religious tourist attraction

POKHARA: The Gandaki Province government has prioritised the development of Dharmakaya Buddha Mandala at Khahundanda, some seven kilometers away from Chapapani in Pokhara.

Kahundanda, that was once the kingdom of Ghale King, lies in Pokhara Metropolitan City-11 at present. The provincial government is at work to develop the place spanning 178 ropani of land as a religious tourist spot.

The Dharapani Community Forest User Group Committee has provided the land for the project. The plan is to build a huge meditation hall and a giant statue of Lord Buddha, according to Dharmakaya Buddha Mandala Development and Management Committee.

Committee’s vice-chairperson Raj Bahadur Gurung shared that apart from Lord Buddha’s statue and meditation hall, Kahundanda will have a stupa, library and other attractive structures. Around 8 ropani of land was bought from the donation amounts offered by various people at home and abroad to build Buddha Mandala, shared committee’s vice-chair Gurung. Kahundanda already has Deurali Temple.

“A grand master plan and detailed plan report are in the offing,” informed committee’s acting chairperson Bharatraj Shakya.

Minister for Law, Communication and Province Assembly Affairs Bindu Kumar Thapa said that the provincial government had accorded high priority to the construction of Buddha Mandala in Kahundanda.

The Gandaki Province government has allocated Rs 7 million for the upcoming fiscal year 2022/23 for the same, shared Minister Thapa.

A meeting was held in coordination with the then regional administrator Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya to form a committee that would do the needful to connect Pokhara with the proposed Buddha Circuit after the expression of interest articulated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in one of his visits to Nepal.

The Committee initially envisaged building a garden and statue of Siddhartha Gautam and Yashodhara at Kahundanda.

Now the Committee aims to construct Buddha Mandala to begin with. A Singaporean national Catherine Tan was working on the design of the Buddha Mandala.

From Kahundanda, views of Pokhara city, Fewa Lake and mountains such as Annapurna, Machhapuchre and Dhaulagiri could be savored simultaneously. (RSS)