Visakhapatnam: After members of various Buddhist organisations, now the monks have hit the streets demanding the state government to cancel the allotment of land done for Film Nagar Cultural Centre (FNCC) on Thotlakonda near the 3rd century Buddhist complex. On Wednesday, the monks staged a protest at the district collectorate demanding cancellation of the land allotment.
“On one side Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is constructing Amaravati, considering it as a Buddhist town and on the other, the state government is set to destroy sanctity of another Buddhist site Thotla-konda. The entire hill needs to be protected and excavations have to be taken up on the other parts of the hill to find out if there are any other remnants. Instead of doing this, the state government has been allotting land on the hill to other purposes which will only destroy the place. We consider the hill as a sacred place and allotting land on it for a club meant for recreation, where boozing is common, has hurt our sentiments. Will such a club be allowed on either Tirumala or Simhach-alam hills,” questoined Buddhist monk Baneji Dhammanda of Nagpur’s Indora Buddha Vihara. He, along with another monk, raised slogans against the allotment.
He demanded the state government to immediately cancel the allotment for FNCC and also develop Budha Viharas and meditation halls at all the Buddhist sites in the state, including Thotlakonda. The Buddhist monk alleged that the heavy machinery used on Thotlakonda to level the land for FNCC bhumi puja had damaged some rocks of the Buddhist complex. He also said that more monks drawn from various parts of the state will join the stir.
