Buddha relics return to India after historic Thailand tour
Lord Buddha, along with those of his disciples Arahant Sariputta and Arahant Maha Moggallana, after 26 -days returned to the National Museum in Delhi on March 19 and was open to brief exposition to the New Delhi based diplomatic corps on March 20.
Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi participated in the ceremony of prayers and chanting in the presence of representatives of the diplomatic corps from 15 countries.
Those present on the occasion were Kshenuka Dhireni Senewiratne, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka; Pattarat Hongtong Ambassador, Thailand; Yasiel Alines Burillo Rivera, Ambassador of Panama; Vahagn Afyan, Ambassador of Armenia; Kenneth da Nobrega, Ambassador of Brazil; Guillermo Rubio Funes, Ambassador of El Salvador; Moe Kyaw Aung, Ambassador of Myanmar; Colin Kao, Deputy Director of the Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in India and senior diplomats from Indonesia, Bhutan, Myanmar, Romania, Peru and Serbia.
Lekhi mentioned that the relics traveling to four cities of Thailand was a very important occasion, as Lord Buddha and his disciples had come together for the first time after more than 2000 years. “This is something unimaginable for us mortals. Only the blessed souls can get this opportunity to be part of the Holy Relic exposition,” she said.
Emphasizing the civilizational bonds between the South East Asian nations, while giving the example of a ‘common outfit’ the ‘Sari’ worn in different ways by the three women at the event, she said that she felt everyone here was
