Dalai Lama to open three-day global Buddhist meet

The Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso, will inaugurate a three-day International Buddhist Conclave on Friday — ‘The Relevance of Buddhism in the 21st Centruy: Perspectives and Global Challenges’ at Rajgir.

The conclave which will take place at Rajgir International Convention Centre (RICC), is jointly organised by Nava Nalanda Mahavihara (NNM) — a deemed university and Union Ministry of Culture. This conclave is being termed as a first serious academic discourse on Buddhism by the organisers.

About 200 delegates from 35 countries, including Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Nepal, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Germany, Thailand and Bangladesh, as well as several Buddhist monks are expected to be a part of the conclave.

“This is for the first time in India that a Buddhist conclave is being organised on such a huge scale. Several technical sessions will be held where the participants will discuss various aspects of Buddhism and the teaching of Lord Buddha,” said NNM media in-charge Srikant Singh.  

Singh said the Buddhist scripture, The Tripitaka, a 41 volume text containing the words of Lord Buddha in Pali, has been reprinted in Devanagri script after a gap of around five decades, and will be released by the Dalai Lama.

President Pranab Mukherjee will also attend the Buddhist conclave.