Thousands throng Tawang monastery to view Buddha relics

Thousands of Buddhist devotees from Tawang district thronged the Galden Namgyal Lhatse, popularly known as Tawang Monastery, to catch a glimpse of the sacred relics of Lord Buddha brought from New Delhi.
Locals in traditional attire lined up from Shyo village at the monastery with khadas and incense to get the blessings and view of the relics, official sources said here today.
Almost 8,000 people from different villages of the district had a glimpse of the relics on the first day, the sources said.
Seeing the overwhelming response to the seven-day exposition of the sacred relics of Lord Buddha, Chairman of Karmik & Adhyatmik (Chos-rig) Affairs T G Rimpoche advised the devotees to follow the path of Lord Buddha.

"The main objective behind bringing the sacred relics to Tawang is to spread peace, harmony and tranquility and to inculcate Buddha's teaching among the people," he said.
These Kapilavastu relics (four out of 22 pieces of the relics) are considered to be the most genuine relics of Lord Buddha.
The relics, brought from National Museum, New Delhi on November 15, would be kept at Tawang Monastery for exposition till November 23 and the next day it would be taken to Bomdila where the relics would be kept at Bomdila Monastery till December 2 before taking it to Namsai in Lohit district on December 4, the sources said.