MYSURU: Students and teachers under stress from hectic academic activities will now have an open air meditation centre which is being created under 200-year-old peepal tree inside the sprawling campus of University of Mysore (UoM).
This open air meditation centre will be a stressbuster to thousands of students, teachers, morning walkers and joggers.
The Mysore university that is celebrating its centenary has created the best physical infrastructure to enhance the beauty of its campus. Though it has an outdoor stadium and a sport complex on the Manasagangothri campus, there was a demand for a meditation centre.
The varsity that realised the need has now converted half acres around the peepal tree as open air meditation centre. UoM V-C K S Rangappa who had visited the spot when he when to lay the foundation stone for the Department of Genetics, decided to utilise the spot as a meditation centre.
The Seat of the Buddha
Varsity engineers have placed a Buddha statue, put up lighting and there are plans to develop a lawn around it so that people can sit on chairs or on lawn to meditate here.
Dalit students who started celebrating Buddha Poornima and Ambedkar’s Parinirvaran Diwas under peepal tree are delighted with the new development. Those visiting the historic Jailakshmi Vilas Mansion, a folklore museum, would make it a point to visit the meditation centre inside the campus, sources said.
Venkat Rao, a UoM alumnus and morning walker, lauded the efforts of the varsity for developing and adding beauty to the heritage tree. He said it would benefit many morning walkers as they can relax under peepal tree.
He said they should construct a small yoga centre nearby so that people can practice yoga. A few others felt that development of the premises for meditation centre will force miscreants from not using the spot for partying.
Administrative officer, Managagangothri campus, prof Ramaswamy said the work on meditation centre will be completed at the earliest and it will be opened for public from Buddha Poornima.
He said this will help more than 1,500 hostel inmates to develop the habit of yoga practice and meditation that will help them in studies.