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| Kathmandu, Wednesday December 25, 2002 Paush 10, 2059. |
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China plans replica of Swayambhunath
By Satyendra Timilsina
KATHMANDU, Dec 24:Almost seven months after the statue of
Araniko, the first ever statue of a non-Chinese in China, was placed in the heart of the
Chinese capital, Beijing, an agreement has been signed to set up a replica of the
Swayambhunath Stupa in Wu Tai Mountain.
The agreement was signed between Araniko
Society and Yuan Zhau Vihar in the first week of December, informed Rajendra Nakarmi, Vice
President of the Society. "The replica is being set up on the request of the people
of Wu Tai Mountain, where the Stupa is to be located," he added.
Wu Tai Mountain is a four-hour drive along
the express highway, north-west of the Chinese capital. The mountain is the birthplace of
Manjushree, a deity of knowledge and wisdom, who set up the settlement of Kathmandu in the
valley centuries ago. The Wu Tai Mountain is one of the four sacred Buddhist Mountains of
China.
The Yuan Zhau Vihar is currently constructing
a temple for Manjushree, the idol of which would be prepared in Nepal. According to the
agreement, the Swayambhunath Stupa is to be erected in front of the Manjushree temple.
According to the agreement, the construction
would be completed within the next eight months and Yuan Zhau Vihar would provide most of
the financing. "We will construct the gajur (ornamental tower of the Stupa) only,
whose cost would be somewhere between Rs 200,000 to Rs 300,000," said Nakarmi.
The establishment of the Stupa would help to
promote Nepal in the Chinese market, says Tek Bahadur Dangi, acting Chief Executive
Officer of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). While the installation of Araniko’s statute
in Beijing has helped in Nepal’s destination promotion in terms of image, perception
and value, this will help promoting Nepal more, he added.
The Araniko Society last May, had established
the statute of Araniko in the premises of the White Pagoda Stupa, one of the more famous
architectural designs of the Nepal-born artist and architect Araniko, in Beijing.
According to Chinese experts, Araniko
constructed three major Stupas in China during the 12th century. One Stupa is in Beijing
and the remaining two are in Wu Tai San. Araniko, who had gone to China at the age of 16,
also constructed numerous statues of Buddha and Buddhist deities.
Other than in the Nepali embassy and consular
offices, the statue of Araniko is the only Nepali symbol in entire China. According to
experts, Nepali embassy in Beijing has an idol of Buddha and the Office of Consular
General in Tibet has an idol of Bhanubhakta.
As many Buddhist monks visit the Wu Tai Shan,
the construction of the replica of Swayambhunath would help promoting Nepal seriously in
China, says Ma Weigung, former Chinese Cultural Attaché to Nepal. "The Araniko
statue has helped a lot to publicise Nepal in China and the new temple would definitely
add more to that," he expressed.
At a time when Nepal is celebrating a special
tourism promotion campaign, and the government is giving high preference to the regional
markets, the statue will help building Nepal’s positive image through art and culture
in China, say Nepali experts.
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