www.centralchronicle.com, September 14, 2006

Henan, China -- As part of efforts to boost ties of friendship and share culture between India and China, a majestic Indian-style Buddhist stupa on the pattern of the World Heritage Sanchi Mahayana stupas, is taking shape in this historic temple town of Henan Province.

Located on the western side of the ancient White Horse Temple (Bai Ma Si), it is a joint venture as part of an agreement inked between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao during the latter's visit in April last year.

The idea was first mooted by the then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee when he visited White Horse Temple on a trip to Luoyang City in 2003.

Besides funding 10 million yuan for construction, India is providing architectural design, landscape planning and other related material while the White Horse Temple has allotted 2,667 sq m. China is offering official cooperation and permits to facilitate the travel of Indian architects and other construction experts.

''Stupa construction began in June this year and will take 310 days for completion,'' says Honglu Temple Abbot Shi Yin Le. A UNI correspondent visiting the site found construction progressing in top gear. Work on outer corridors and the 27-ft-high stupa is underway simultaneously. Foundation beams have been completed while iron rods have been fixed for columns.

The shrine will be formally declared open on April 26 next year in the presence of senior Indian and Chinese officials, besides monks.

Buddhists in China hold India in high esteem and ordinary Chinese, who cannot afford to make a trip to India, can now have a glimpse of ''little India'' here.

Today, the masses, after meeting their materialistic needs, are somewhat turning to spiritualism to realise mental peace and are being influenced by Buddhism, say the monks.

Some Chinese pilgrims, in a conversation with UNI, expressed a desire to visit Sanchi and other Buddhist pilgrim centres in India. Such exchanges, they feel, will contribute towards further cementing relations between denizens of the two giant Asian neighbours who constitute a third of the world's population.

A visit to this area is inspiring, particularly due to new ways of depicting deities, novel types of architectural spaces for worship and new ritual motions and actions. One also catches a glimpse of cultural ties between the ancient civilizations of the two nations.  (by Arun K Bhandari)