Tag: District Magistrate

In alert on Chhath Puja, Bihar district admn names Muslims.

Source – indianexpress.com

In an order to the local police and administration, Madhepura District Magistrate Navdeep Shukla has warned against attempts by “mischievous elements from Muslim community (to) cause tension” during the ongoing Chhath festival.

Frowning at the order, the state home department said it would look into the issue. “It was inadvertently phrased,” Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Amir Subhani, said. Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey said the “tone of the order should have been changed”.

In the order, dated October 31, the district magistrate has said: “Water deposit in lanes through which Chhath Puja devotees cross, especially through Muslim settlements… overflowing drain water running through (these) roads causes tension. At times, dismantling of ghat structure because of the crowd also causes problems. Incidents of eve-teasing of relatives and acquaintances of devotees by mischievous elements from Muslim community cause tension. Passing objectionable remarks on Chhath devotees and their relatives causes law and order problems”.

The order also warns against “mischievous elements intending to disturb communal harmony by placing flesh or body parts of dead animals in ponds and rivers”. Citing incidents of communal tension during Dussehra and Muharram in Bihariganj area of the district in 2016, the district administration said special precautions were being taken this time.

When contacted, Shukla told The Sunday Express: “The order is based on Intelligence inputs. Other districts would have also issued such orders. Our idea is to avoid any breach of communal harmony”.

Asked why a particular community had been named, he said: “We put the Intelligence input the way it is. We cannot tone down the language. It is about issuing alerts to ensure that there is no law and order problem… Our goal is to maintain communal harmony”.

The district magistrate, in his order, has referred to an October 23 note from the office of the Additional Director General of Police (Special Branch) on security precautions to be taken during Chhath Puja. This note, however, was a general advisory and did not name any community.

“It will be looked into… I spoke to the DM. He said that it was inadvertently phrased like that. He has been suitably advised,” Bihar Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Amir Subhani said.

Bihar temple wall collapses during Chhath Puja celebrations, 3 dead, many feared trapped.

Source – indiatoday.in

Three people, including two women and one man, were killed and many injured after a temple wall collapsed in Bihar’s Samastipur during Chhath Puja celebrations on Sunday.

Several devotees have been feared trapped under the debris after the wall of Kali temple in Badgaon village of Hasanpur police station area collapsed.

A team of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) is at the spot and rescue operation is underway.

Also, Rosera SDO and DSP are at the scene to probe the matter.

Officials feared that the death toll may go up as many may have been buried under the debris of the collapsed temple wall.

Meanwhile, a compensation of Rs 4 lakh by the government have been announced for the families of the deceased.

Earlier in a separate incident, two minors were killed in a stampede during Chhath puja celebrations in Suryanagari Dev area of the district on Saturday evening.

The deceased include a six-year-old boy from Patna’s Bihta and a 1.5 year-old-girl, resident of Sahar in Bhojpur. Some other devotees also sustained injuries in the incident during the incident.

Officials and security personnel deployed at the area immediately sprung to action to control the mob and prevent any further escalation of the unfortunate situation.

District Magistrate Rahul Ranjan Mahiwal and Superintendent of Police (SP) Deepak Barnwal also met with the kin of the deceased and expressed condolences.

The officers said they will ensure an ex-gratia to the family members and will make necessary arrangements to ensure that the incident does not recure.

Bodh Gaya’s Mahabodhi Temple to Receive New Hi-tech Illumination System

Source: buddhistdoor.net

The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, India, one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in the world, will soon by illuminated by a state-of-the art LED lighting system by the end of this year, with funding for the extraordinary initiative offered by Siddhartha’s Intent India with support from Khyentse Foundation and Vana Foundation. The new lighting system is designed to illuminate every part of the temple in accordance with the highest safety and quality standards to ensure a long-lasting and sustainable solution.

The project, called “Lighting the Mahabodhi,” is one of the largest and most ambitious light-offering initiatives in Buddhist history. According to the Bhutanese newspaper Kuensel, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, founder of Khyentse Foundation, who initiated the lighting project, came up with the idea in 2015, and in 2017 the proposal was approved by the Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee and the Gaya District Magistrate. The total cost of project is around US$1.4 million, with more than 30 per cent of the budget allocated since the project was launched.

“If there is one thing in the world that resembles our minds, it is light,” said Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. “As Buddhists in the Rime tradition, our aim is to illuminate our minds free from judgment, prejudice, or pride. And so, it is to symbolize that realization and to appreciate the Buddha’s infinite compassion and skillful means in guiding us toward it, that we are now offering light at the very place of the Buddha’s enlightenment.” (Kuensel)

The Mahabodhi Temple, one of the most spiritual destinations for Buddhists pilgrims, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site marking the place where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. Beside the temple, there are seven other sacred sites in Bodh Gaya, including the descendent of the original Bodhi tree.

“The atmosphere created by the Mahabodhi Temple is so potent it’s as if you fall into a trance,” explained Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. “Here you’ll find the vajra seat (vajra asana, also known as the Diamond Seat) where, after many years of searching for the truth and six excruciating years of penance by the banks of the Niranjana River, Siddhartha finally discovered the Middle Path and achieved enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. (Khyentse Foundation)

“Centuries have passed since the Buddha attained enlightenment at this spot, and the temple has weathered many eras of both resplendence and shocking neglect. In this present era, the temple has been upgraded, is well tended to, and in comparatively excellent shape,” said the president of Siddhartha’s Intent India, Prashant Varma, in a press release on 31 May. “Lighting the Mahabodhi is building upon this support to update the lighting in a way that will last for generations to come. (Khyentse Foundation)

B-Lit, a lighting design company from Bangkok, Thailand, is providing the design offering free of charge as an offering of devotion. The overall lighting system will include high-end LED technology, as well as software to control and automate the myriad of high-efficiency, low-heat LED bulbs and fixtures.

According to the Khyentse Foundation, the lighting project will incorporate: 

• Automated lights that are durable, energy efficient, and ecologically friendly, with minimal light pollution.
• Top technical quality lighting with systematised controls.
• Synchronized with the lunar cycles, and adaptable to the many special rituals and needs of the Mahabodhi Temple.
• Light fittings and fixtures able to withstand changing seasonal and weather conditions.
• Safe and easy operation and maintenance.

“We hope to have part of phase one—the core of the temple lighting—ready by the end of this year,” noted Varma. “We shall then steadily work toward completing all other areas of the temple complex, other than the Sarovar Lake and the new Meditation Park, by the end of 2020.” (Kuensel)