Bodhgaya Project Update June 2008
Dear Dharma brothers and sisters,
The Bodhgaya project took off on March 8th, 2007 with the ground breaking ceremony performed by Rinpoche and ten monks. Right after the reinforcement of the raft foundation was completed and before we could start the casting, we had a heavy rainfall which filled the foundation with water and mud slides which can be seen in one of the pictures. It took us more than a week just to get the water and the soil out of the foundation before we could do the casting. This was the most toughest and challenging work in the melting heat of Bodhgaya but with our strong will and determination, we got all the soil cleaned and started the first casting on 21st of May, 2007.
We have planned a rain harvesting water tank with a capacity of 560,000 litres below the main temple which is why the foundation work has taken longer. We are finished with the casting of 30 inches raft foundation of approximately 12,000 sq ft and 6 ft casting of the outer, inner and baffle walls of the water tank. We are presently doing the bar bending of the tie beam on both the inner, outer and the baffle walls. I will continue to post more pictures as we keep progressing with the work.
With very warm regards and best wishes from Bodhgaya!
Truelha
