Peace & Fraternity Walk

Proposed
‘Peace& Fraternity Walk’
On 18 July 2008 at 1500- 1700 Hours.
(From Dharmatola( Metro Channel) to
Statue of Babasaheb Dr. B.R.Ambedkar)
Lenin Sarani- Purna Chand Nahar Street- S.N.Bannerjee Road- Dorina X ing-New Road- Mayo Road Cross Over- Red Road near Cenotaph along Western Flank of Red Road (Grassy Portion) - Statue of Babasaheb Dr. B.R.Ambedkar.
Organized by
Dharmachakra
An Effort To Spread The Message of Dharmachakra in The National Flag of India,
by a group of NGOs & individuals.
on the Occasion of
Dharmachakrapravartana Day
What is Dharmachakrapravartana?
The Buddha achieved enlightenment under a pipal tree at Bodh Gaya. He was initially hesitant to share his discovery of Truth with others. After deep contemplation, he decided to proceed to the deer garden of Ancient Ishipatana/Hrisipatana( The Abode of sages), modern Sarnath, near Varanasi, where his erstwhile five companions stayed. They deserted Siddharth, when he accepted some food from a lady ( Sujata, a lady from the locality who came to the holy place to worship ) to break his self-mortification. After crossing few turbulent rivers, he reached the deer garden of Hrisipatana. The five sages were meditating under a tree. From distance, they recognized Siddharth from distance. They decided not to offer him any seat, since he, abandoned the path of self-mortification. As the Buddha came closer; they immediately realized that Siddarth had discovered the Truth which had been eluding them for years and offered him the best seat and begged to know the discovery from the Buddha.
The Buddha delivered his first sermon to them which is called Dhamma-cakka-ppavattana- Turning of the Wheel of Law. “The Perfect One, O mnks, the Holy One, fully enlightened One, in the Deer Park at Isipatana near Benares, has set rolling (established) the unsurpassed wheel (realm) of the law.” ( M.141. )
Dhammacakka/Dhamma
Dhammacakka , The Wheel of Law set rolling is the doctrine discovered and proclaimed by The Buddha, The Four Noble Truths. The doctrine is universally called Dhamma. The term Dhamma conveys the meaning of the entire teachings of the Buddha.
The Four Noble Truths.
The Four Noble Truths are the shortest statements of the doctrine. The Four Noble Truths are: 1. The Truth of Suffering, 2. The Truth of the Origin of suffering, 3. Extinction of Suffering and 4. The Eightfold path leading to the Extinction of Suffering.
Importance of Dhamma-cakka-ppavattana Day
Dhamma-cakka-ppavattana Day is the Day on which the Buddha proclaimed the Dhamma. To the Buddhists, all over the world four events in the life of the Buddha are very sacred: 1. The Birth of The Buddha, 2. Enlightenment under The Bodhi Tree, at Bodh Gaya, Turning of The Wheel of Law at Sarnath and The Mahaparinirvana at Kushinagara.
Dhamma in Calcutta
Archeological discovery of the remains of Buddhist heritage at Chandraketugarh, (North-24 Parganas) Tamluk, ( East Medinipore) Tilpi/Dosha ( South 24 Parganas) and Dum Dum ( Greater Calcutta) prove that these sites were urban settlements of a region including Calcutta, where Buddhism was the earliest and organized religion. Calcutta is not three hundred or four hundred years old. The excavations at Dum Dum mound have knocked out the belief of medieval antiquity of Calcutta. (Excavation at Dum Dum Mound, ASI,Calcutta, 2001-2003.) Calcutta is certainly 2300/2200 years old. Calcutta was founded within a flourishing urban zone which lay outside the pale of Aryandom. The dominant and indigenous tribes of Eastern India were Magadhas, Birjees, Bangas, Colingas and Pundras. We find the signature of the Bangas, Colingas and Birjees in the ethnic localities of Dinga Banga, Colinga and Dhee Birjee which prominently figure in the early Maps of Calcutta. Dhammatola, now erroneously called Dharmatala was the concentration of the Bangas who were Buddhists from Ancient times. Dhurrumtola Street, Dhurrumtola Bazzar, Dhurrumtola Academy, Dhuurrumtola Tank are some of the land marks of the Dhamma area. Janbazar was within the Dhamma area. Till to day, one finds a votive stupa in a temple at 45 S.N.Bannerjee Road. It is a Hindu temple, yet the Stupa is placed at an important position of the temple and is worshipped as Dharmathakur. Dharmathakur is none other than the Buddha.( Sastri, Haraparsad, Bange Bauddha Dharma)
Why ‘Peace & Fraternity’ walk?
We are living in a time of violence and enmity. Therefore, we thought of walking in those areas of Calcutta, where Dhamma took deep roots. The Dharmachakra in the National Flag of India stands for the values that India stood throughout the ages. The constituent Assembly of India decided to incorporate the Buddhist concept of Dharmachakra in the National Flag of India and adopted Dharmachakra from the lion capital of Asokan column. “ That wheel is a symbol of India’s ancient culture” said Nehru.
Asoka, in his Lion Capital of the column erected by him at Sarnath adopted the concept of Wheel of Law set rolling by The Buddha at Sarnath,

Convener: Dr.U.N.Biswas (Trustee: NCMB Memorial Trust, Registered with Addl. Registrar of Assurances, the Govt. of West Bengal, in 2002, No. 1635 for the year 2002.)
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Salt Lake City,
9 July 2008.