Vishwa Shanti Stupa (Peace Pagoda)

Vishwa Shanti Stupa stands atop the 400 metre Ratnagiri hill and was built in 1969 by the Japanese Buddhist monk Nichidatsu Fujii as one of around eighty peace pagodas raised worldwide after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Four gilded Buddha statues face the cardinal directions, each marking a stage of his life from birth to enlightenment to death, and a small Nipponzan Myohoji temple sits beside the main dome. Visitors reach the top either by climbing a long stone staircase or by riding the single seat chairlift ropeway, said to be the oldest ropeway in India, which lifts riders over forested hills for sweeping valley views.