Nature lovers say no to Buddha statue.... BANGALORE : Eco-activists fear that the project to carve a Buddha statue in the Handigondi forest will be detrimental to the flora and fauna. Would you want to imitate America and create a Mount Rushmore near Bangalore? Not at the cost of a unique landscape home to large varieties of flora and fauna, say nature enthusiasts, who gathered in big numbers at the Handigondi rock, near Ramanagaram on Sunday to protest against the carving of the west face of the rock into a massive Buddha statue.

On a sunny Sunday, more than 50 mountaineers, naturalists, nature enthusiasts and children gathered on the Bangalore-Mysore Road to trek towards the Gopalapura village, which is home to the rocks. In small batches of twos and fours, the protesters trekked the narrow lanes of the village, bearing the summer sun beating down their backs, occasionally taking shelter under a wayside tree. After climbing and sometimes crawling their way up to the rock to a half-way height, they held on to the 1,050 feet rock to display their opposition to the project, shouting slogans of ‘Buddham Sharanam Gachami, Buddha Vigraham Na Ichami’.

The Rs 15-crore project, to be undertaken by the Sanghamitra Foundation, has come in for severe criticism ever since it got clearance from the State Forest Department. Currently, the project is pending approval from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. “The Foundation has stated publicly that it wants to carve a Buddha statue. But what is not public is its plans to open ‘an international peace centre, which once complete, will be the finest comprising the world's tallest statue of the Buddha amidst 2,000 acres of lush green scenic beauty and creative marvels,” says K H Raju, of KINSROC. “Not one officer checked the project beyond the documentation submitted by the Foundation”, says Leo Saldanha of Environment Support Group.

Mansi Meera Baindur, a yoga teacher and a nature enthusiast said, "According to Lord Buddha, the whole experience of life is momentary. Nothing in life is permanent. In that case, a Buddha statue too is pointless.”