Union Minister of State Kiren Rijiju lays foundation stone of Ashoka pillar’s replica in Topra kalan village

Yamunanagar: Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju laid the foundation stone of Ashoka pillar’s replica in Topra Kalan village of Yamunanagar district on Wednesday, 4th September, 2019. This replica will be constructed by Haryana Tourism Department with the help of gram panchayat of Topra Kalan village and an NGO Buddhist Forum led by its president Darshan Lal Jain, general secretary Sidhartha Gauri and joint general secretary Rajni Prakash Vashishtha.

The height of the replica will be 50 feet. Besides, there will be seven set of inscriptions on it in Bhrami script. The capital of the pillar will have 32 spokes of Dharam Chakra (Ashoka Chakra) over the four-lion.

After laying the foundation stone, Rijiju said that Topra Kalan village must be developed as a tourist destination. He said that he had come to Haryana several times, but came to Topra Kalan village for the first time. “I am happy to see the development works undertaken in Haryana. Other states should also follow Haryana’s model of development,” said Rijiju.

As per general secretary of Buddhist Forum, Sidhartha Gauri, the construction work of the replica is expected to be completed in nine months. He said that the Buddhist Forum with the help of government had been developing an ‘Ashoka Edicts Park’ over 27 acres panchayat land in Topra Kalan village with an aim to revive ancient Buddhist heritage and to attract spiritual tourism from across the world.

“In Ashoka Edicts Park, we have already installed India’s biggest Ashoka Chakra with a diameter of 30 feet in January 2019 and a Chhatravali in May 2019,” said Sidhartha. He said that emperor Ashoka had installed a pillar in Topra Kalan village about 2300 years ago. But in 14th century, as per historian Shams-i-Siraj, Feroz Shah Tughlaq took that pillar to Delhi, presently the pillar is standing on the rooftop of ancient three-story building at Kotla in Delhi.

Minister of State for Jal Shakti Ratan Lal Kataria, Haryana Assembly Speaker Kanwar Pal, Kurukshetra Member of Parliament Naib Singh Saini and Radaur MLA Shyam Singh Rana were present on the occasion.