In Bangladesh the next building to be constructed will be the Workshop. In time there will be the Meditation and Meeting Hall, the Monolith, the Centre of Work, the Fountain and the Stele.
Under the banner of, “Building Unity with Peace and Non-Violence”, the First Nepal Humanist Forum took place in Kathmandu, Nepal, on the 29th of November, 2008. Participated by 150 people, the event was a great success. It endorsed the World March for Peace & Non-violence whole-heartedly.
As a result of such activities by the Humanist Movement groups generally, Nepal too has launched its Park with an international camp. Co-organiser Suresh Sainju told Pressenza, “Yes, but it is not as our expectations which were to have more participants.” Hard to beat that 150 figure I guess!
The humanist work camp was held in October, 2011, organised in Panauti, Nepal, as the initial efforts to establish Nepal’s Park of Study & Reflection. This is a small town 32km south east of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. Panauti is renowned for its rich history, cultural activities, artistic buildings and year-round festivals.
Khandhroli Ashram, in India, is the Asian Regional Park of Study and Reflection. On May 4, 2008, the Park’s monolith was inaugurated. Khandhroli has been instrumental to the work developing all other Parks in Asia as the Silo School Disciplines studies took place there.
The first offshoot of Khandhroli was the Parks of Study and Reflection, Narhi, Madhubani, Bihar. Another Park in India is at Ladwa (Hisar) Haryana. Ladwa is one of the villages in Haryana State and is 10 kilometres from a larger town and 206 km from the State main city Chandigarh. More recently Padappai, near Chennai, has seen activities related to a new Park; and just hot off the ‘drawing board’, yet another Park is getting underway in Kerala.
The latest development at the Philippines’ Park Banahaw is the siting of the Fountain, one of the elements that go to make up a classic park, as exemplified at Punta de Vacas, Argentina, situated near Mt. Aconcagua, the sacred site of the original Park of Study and Reflection.
At Banahaw the Centre of Work is active, as is the multi-purpose hall. Still, ‘teething problems’ persist and as at all the Parks, attention is continuously needed and committed work by all involved. These are all community projects, advancing what is worthwhile amid ‘the mess’.
