Tejaswini
GAYA – Prayers for ‘World Peace’ were held under the sacred Bodhi (peepal) tree on the campus of the world heritage Mahabodhi Mahavihara in Bodh Gaya on Saturday morning.
Tibetan Buddhists’ spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, led the prayers attended by more than 1,000 monks, nuns, and Buddhist scholars from at least 10 countries, including Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Tibet. Those attending the prayers have arrived in Bodh Gaya to participate in the three-day 1st International Sangha Forum inaugurated by Dalai Lama on Wednesday, which concluded on Friday. Devotees offered prayers for five minutes each in the language of their respective countries.
The Dalai Lama reached Mahavihara from the Tibet monastery in a golf cart. He lit the ceremonial lamp under the Bodhi tree to start prayers for world peace.
The Mahavihara campus reverberated with the hymns of ‘Buddham Sharanam Gachchhami’ ‘Dhammam Sharanam Gachchhami’, ‘Sangham Sharanam Gachchhami’.
After the Dalai Lama and other delegates entered the Mahavihara campus, devotees and tourists had to wait outside in a queue for nearly 20 minutes to enter.
Following the instructions of the district magistrate-cum-Bodh Gaya temple management committee chairman Thiyagarajan SM, the queue system has been made mandatory to enter Mahavihara to avoid any mad rush because a large number of Buddhist devotees gather outside Mahavihara to have a ‘glimpse and the blessings of Dalai Lama.
Dalai Lama will be delivering sermons to his disciples at the Kalachakra ground on December 29, 30, and 31 followed by prayers for his long life on January 1.
