A procession with the Buddhist flag was carried out by nearly 200 devotees from Ambedkar Chauraha to the four-pillar statue in Ambedkar Park — a distance of about 500 metres.
LUCKNOW: The day-long International Buddhist Conclave 2022, held at the Ambedkar Park in the city’s Gomti Nagar area on Thursday, was attended by 200 Buddhist pilgrims from several nations. The conclave was organised by the Samanvaya Seva Sansthan on behalf of the Tripitaka Chanting Council and the Light of Buddha Dharma Foundation International.
Speaking at the event, Mukesh Meshram, principal secretary of the Uttar Pradesh tourism department, said, “Our state has great potential for spiritual tourism. While there are over 600 million Buddhists worldwide, less than 1% of them can come to India for pilgrimage due to a lack of advanced tourism facilities. We need to change this. The tourism department lent its support to this event to encourage more such events in the future.”
Earlier in the day, a procession with the Buddhist flag was carried out by nearly 200 devotees from Ambedkar Chauraha to the four-pillar statue in Ambedkar Park — a distance of about 500 metres.
Dr Phra Charan Suthi, a senior monk from Thailand, was the chief guest at the event. Similarly, Dr Wangmo Dixey, the director of the Light of Buddha Dharma Foundation International, and Dr Richard Dixey of the Khyentse Foundation were the special guests of the event. At the assembly, Bhadant Gyanjyoti represented India.
Notably, the delegation from all of these Buddhist organisations have been visiting India since 2007 to spread the message of Buddhism. The attendants thanked the tourism department for lending their support to the event. The director and deputy director of the tourism department were also present at the conclave.
On the occasion, Hemant Boudh and Suraj Rahi performed musical performances on Lord Buddha’s life. A similar event will also be organised on November 5, 7, 9, and 15 at Sankisa, Shravasti, Kushinagar, and Sarnath respectively.
