Vaishali, site of the second council, is deeply associated with the Buddha. The Blessed one gave many important sermons to the Licchivis of Vaishali, who enshrined their share of the body relics of Buddha there. The site of this ancient stupa is still visible, and a new stupa has been built to house these important relics that have survived from the earliest times. 

Chanting ceremonies

The Vice President of the ITCC holds his main residence in Vaishali and we requested if we could start the recitation of the Vinaya Tipitaka there. It was unanimously agreed to move forward in partnership with the local viharas. LBDFI sponsored the erection of a chanting pavilion, and offered food twice per day to all participants. The first ceremony was established in 2017 with the assistance of Wat Thai Vaishali and the Bhikkhuni Gotami Mahapajahti Center along with the Vietnamese nunnery, Cambodian temple and Burmese temple. At this ceremony, we had close to 150 monks and nuns and 250 lay people. We offered copies of the Vinaya Pitaka. In 2018, we had 125 monks and nuns and 300 lay devotees. In 2019, the ceremony was held with 200 monks and nuns and 300 lay devotees.

Pilgrimage to Kesariya

According to Mahaparinirvana Sutra and Xuanzang’s travelogue, Buddha left the Licchavis at Kesaria, near Vaishali, on his journey to Kushinagara where he attained Mahaparinirvana. A large stupa was built on this spot. The polygonal, star shaped stupa now stands 80ft high, with a 500ft diameter and five terraces. The terraces are raised one above the other and three of them have a passage for circumambulation constructed not later than 2nd BCE. Emperor Ashoka marked the place with an inscribed pillar with lion capital to reflect its importance.

Amenities

In 2009, Tsering Gellek obtained permission from the ASI to install a great Dharma Bell at Vaishali. However, there was no obvious location for the bell. LBDFI took over the project, and negotiated with a local monk who owned a vihara on the entrance pathway to the relic stupa in Vaishali. This

stupa is of great importance as it is the only relic stupa in India that can be reliably dated to the Mahaparinivana of the Buddha. A reliquary was found inside it, which is currently displayed at Patna Museum, although there is now construction underway to create a new stupa, the Buddha Samyak Darshan Memorial Stupa in Vaishali to hold these precious remains. A museum on a 75 acre site is also under construction.

LBDFI installed the Vaishali Bell at the entrance to the relic stupa in 2009. We also gold leafed the Bell in 2014. We also offered a Buddha statue to the Thai temple to be placed to act as a centerpiece of each Tipitaka chanting ceremony held at Vaishali.

Book Distribution

We offered Pali texts of the Vinaya Tipitaka at each chanting ceremony in Vaishali. These are offered in the following scripts: Thai, Burmese, Roman and Devangari. They are kept every year in the Thai temple. We also distributed ‘What the Buddha Taught’ and the ‘Daily Devotional Chanting’ in Pali.