History, Importance, Timings, Architecture, Social & Religious Activities, Interesting Facts and Travel Guide of Global Vipassana Pagoda Mumbai, India
The Global Vipassana Pagoda is a place for meditative practice hall near Gorai (north-west Mumbai). The hall is a dome-shaped structure with a seating capacity of 8000 people. The pagoda was built in 2008 and was inaugurated in 2009 by Pratibha Patil (former president of India). The pagoda is built on a peninsular land between the Arabian Sea and Gorai brook. It was built to show gratitude to the first Accountant-General of Independent Burma, Sayagyi U Ba Khin. He was involved in Vipassana returning to the country of its origin, India. The pagoda is a symbol is absolute serenity and synchronization.
The pagoda is the city’s expression of showing thankfulness to Lord Buddha. It has managed a room for itself as one of the city’s major cultural and architectural attractions within a lesser period. Hardly, a decade old, this pagoda is made up of the world’s largest stone dome, built without any sustaining pillars. Previously, the dome of Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur was the biggest concave stone moment in the world. But the dome of this pagoda is twice the size of that. The pagoda took almost eight years to construct. The construction plan began in 1997, while the basic construction started in 2000 and was completed by 2008. As it has a complex structure, the pagoda is still under production, with supplementary structures. The whole structure is estimated to be finished soon. The monument was made up in admiration of Gautam Buddha. The Burmese donated the umbrella-like structure of the shrine. The wooden main doors were engraved in Myanmar. The other building material (sandstone) was from Rajasthan.
A famous Vipassana meditation teacher, Shree S N Goenka projected the plan of the Global Vipassana Pagoda in Mumbai, to increase knowledge about Dhamma – the wisdom of Buddha. The thought was to imprint the knowledge in people’s thoughts and progress their way of living. He believed that building the pagoda would help develop the sense of Dhamma and make people attentive to the Vipassana meditation method. He was awarded by Padma Bhushan for his manners, in 2012.
The dome of the pagoda is almost 29 meters high.
The interior of the pagoda is vacant, which acts as a meditation hall. Here over 8000 people can participate in practicing Vipassana meditation.
The building is 96.12 meters high overall. The architecture is a mixture of Buddhist and Burmese patterns.
The steeple is of pure gold, that was donated by the Burmese.
The base of the pagoda is made of basalt.
The dome is made up of sandstone blocks weighing 600-700 kgs each.
The only special ritual found here is the Vipassana meditation. Visitors from various places come here to learn the Vipassana meditation. People can sign up for a 10days course on Vipassana meditation. You can learn a lot about Gautam Buddha by participating in meditation.
The place is open for visitors regularly. The exact time to go round the pagoda is between 9 am to 7 pm. Although, no visitors are allowed to enter after 6.30 pm. There is no entry fee here, but you can contribute whatever amount you want. Visitors are not allowed to enter the central dome. You should dress decently and carry your ID card to enter the pagoda.
The pagoda is open all over the year, but it is best to visit the pagoda during the winter. The months of November to February are the best times for visiting. The comfortable weather will help you traverse the pagoda properly. It may take 2-3 hours to have a complete visit to the pagoda.
You can contact the pagoda authority through their website at pr@globalpagoda.org or contact them over the phone at – 022 5042 7500/+91 8291894644.
If you are a travel enthusiast, the Global Vipassana Pagoda is a must-visit for you. Even if not the history, the unique architecture will amaze you.
How to Reach Global Vipassana Pagoda, Mumbai, The capital of Maharashtra, India
There are many ways to reach the pagoda. The nearest railway station is Borivali, from where you can take a bus or auto for Gorai creek. Once reaching there, you can ride on a ferry to arrive at the pagoda. The nearest jetty is the Essel World jetty. As Mumbai is capital of Maharashtra and financial center of India, it is very well connected with all major cities of India and also all the major cities of world. You can easily get flights to reach Mumbai from any corner of world. Mumbai has major railway junctions from where you can get train to reach almost all major cities of India. Every year millions of tourist and visitors across the world reaches here at Mumbai for different purpose. So public transport is also very much develop to facilitate them. Mumbai is located at just 150 km from Pune, 166 km from Nashik, 84 km from Matheran, 82 km from Lonavala, 245 km from Shirdi, 197 km from Bhimashankar, 177 km from Trambak etc.
