PM Modi to attend Abhidhamma Diwas program in Kushinagar tomorrow

Eminent monks from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, South Korea, Nepal, Bhutan, Cambodia and ambassadors from several countries will participate in the Abhidhamma Day.

A Sri Lankan delegation of 123 delegates including a 12-member Sacred Relic Team led by the current Mahanayak of Vasakaduva Temple is participating in the event with the Holy Relics.

These relics are accepted as genuine relics (bone fragments, ashes, pieces of Buddha’s gems).

Paintings of Ajanta frescos, Buddhist sutra calligraphy, Buddhist artifacts excavated from Vadnagar and other sites in Gujarat will also be on display.

Union Ministry of Culture, International Buddhist Confederation in collaboration with Government of Uttar Pradesh is organizing Abhidhamma Day on the auspicious occasion of Ashwin Purnima.

The day marks the end of Varshavasa or Vasa, a three-month rainy retreat for Buddhist monks and nuns, during which they stay and pray in a monastery and a monastery.

The Sri Lankan delegation also includes the Anunayakas (Deputy Heads) of all the four Nikats (Orders) of Buddhism in the country – Asgiriya, Amarapura, Ramanya, Malavatta. It also includes five Sri Lankan cabinet ministers under the leadership of Namal Rajapaksa.

According to a culture ministry release, the highlight of the event is the display of the sacred Buddha relic being brought from the Vaskaduva Sri Subuddhi Rajvihara temple in Sri Lanka by the temple megastar.

In 1898, archaeologists from the Archaeological Survey of India excavated a large mound at Piprahwa in the Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, about 160 km from Kushinagar, in the property of the British landowner William Claxton Peppe. They found a big stone box and inside this stone box were some coffins and on one of the coffins these words were written: ‘Iyangsalilanidhane Buddhasbhagavathesakiansukithibhathanambhaginikathansasunadalata’.

Sri Subhuti Mahanayake Thero of Vaskaduva Temple in Sri Lanka, who was helping the archaeological team and WC Peppe translated the text which means “This noble act of depositing Buddha’s remains was done by the brothers, sisters and children of the Sakya Was”.

“Thus, these relics are accepted as genuine relics (bone fragments, ashes, pieces of Buddha’s jewellery). One part of the Buddha relics recovered from this stupa was sent to the king of Thailand and the other part to the king of Thailand. The king was sent to Burma,” the release said.

WC Peppe handed over another part of the relics to Sri Subhuti Mahanayake Thero as a token of gratitude.

“A part of the same relic is embedded in three small lotuses, further enclosed in a crystal ball, placed in a coffin measuring 30 cm * 26.5 cm which is fixed on a wooden stand, Kushinagar for public exhibition being brought,” the release said.

PM Modi will worship the holy relic and will also visit the Mahaparinirvana temple to offer flowers and Shivar to the reclining statue of Buddha.

The ancient city of Kushinagar is the final resting place of Gautam Buddha, where he attained Mahaparinirvana after his death.

It is one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Buddhists since ancient times. The inauguration of Kushinagar International Airport by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an important milestone connecting Buddhist-pilgrimage-sacred sites for Buddhists across the world.

The Prime Minister will also give ‘Sivar Dana’ to the monks from Sri Lanka and other countries attending the event.

Chivar refers to a “monk’s robe”. The three-month-long post-rain period, observed by monks and nuns as staying in the monastery during the rainy season, is a time of giving, to express gratitude to the Sangha.

“Lay Buddhists bring donations to temples, especially new robes for monks and nuns. Also the gift of athaparikara (in Sri Lanka it is known as atapirikara) – the eight essentials – is part of the offerings. Dana can also be given on other occasions,” the release said.

The Prime Minister has offered Chivar and Sangha Dan on several occasions in India and abroad. He had presented the Sri Lanka Temple in 2014, the Mahabodhi Society of Colombo, the holy Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya to senior monks from different countries in October 2015 and the Vesak Buddha Purnima Day event in New Delhi in 2018 to senior monks and nuns from different countries.

Paintings of Ajanta frescos, Buddhist sutra calligraphy, Buddhist artifacts excavated from Vadnagar and other sites in Gujarat will also be on display.

The Prime Minister will also see an exhibition of recreations of the Ajanta Cave frescoes made by the late MR Pimpre of Aurangabad.

The exhibition also includes Buddhist calligraphy of sutras by famous calligrapher from Sikkim, Jamyang Dorji.

“These priceless works of art are testimony to India’s rich and diverse Buddhist art heritage,” the release said.

Buddhist art and artifacts excavated from various sites in Gujarat show the period of Buddhism in India and the various sources of origin from which it traveled and spread in different directions in the world.

“Vadnagar once endowed with a large Buddhist vihara where ancient travelers describe seeing a congregation of 10,000 Buddhist monks. The exhibition is organized by Ms. Kshipra,” the release said.

with agency input