Buddha Vihar, Kalaburagi

Buddha Vihar is a large Buddhist complex about 6 km from the centre of Kalaburagi, on Sedam Road close to Gulbarga University. Work began in 2002 on a smaller plan that the trust behind it later enlarged, and the 14th Dalai Lama inaugurated it on 7 January 2007. Its design borrows from the great Buddhist sites of Sanchi, Sarnath and Ajanta, and from Nagpur.

The campus covers 18 acres, and the main hall occupies roughly 33,000 sq ft, built of 284 blocks resting on 170 pillars. A marble-clad dome 70 ft high and 59 ft across crowns it, and four 48-ft Ashoka pillars stand for the Four Noble Truths. Buddha statues sit on the ground and first floors, with a 6-ft black stone Buddha carved by Ashoka Gudikara, and a meditation centre fills the basement.