GULBARGA: Ten crore has been granted to Siddhartha Vihar Trust to establish Pali Language Study Centre in Gulbarga. Siddhartha Vihar Trust, which was inaugurated two years on December 20, 2009, by Pratibha Patil, President of India, has attracted many visitors from across the world. Religious leader Dalia Lama has visited the Vihar twice in the past 2 years.
Union Minister for Labour and Employment, Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the MP from Gulbarga is the chairman of the Vihar. He wants to make Siddhartha Vihar a pilgrimage centre. Responding to his proposal to establish the Pali Language Study Centre, Union Government has sanctioned the grants.
Administrator of Siddhartha Vihar Trust, Ramesh Begar told Express that the Trust already had necessary infrastructure facilities to start the study center.
Initial efforts were made to teach Pali language to some students. Bhante, a native of Sri Lanka, who used to teach Pali in Vihar, has returned to his native place.
Following his resignation, chairman of the Vihar, had contacted officials of Buddhist & Pali University, Sri Lanka, who have agreed to send two teachers to Gulbarga, to teach Pali at the study centre. Officials from Vihar said, Mallikarjun Kharge would consult the officials of Buddhist & Pali University, and then decide the criteria for admission.If the process goes as per plan, Pali Language Study Centre would commence from next academic year (2012-13) Begar said. It will also be the first Pali language centre in Karnataka.
Though University Grants Commission (UGC) has granted Rs 1 crore to Gulbarga University to establish the study centre, the university is yet to submit a project report, officials said.