Page 2 - Buddhism

India provides grants to build houses in Buddhist sacred town of Sri Lanka

India has signed an additional grant of Sri Lanka Rupees 150 million to build houses and infrastructure facilities in the Buddhist sacred town of Anuradhapura, the Indian High Commission has said. Santosh Jha, the High Commissioner of India, and the relevant Sri Lankan officials on March 21 exchanged letters about the grant to the island nation. With this, the Indian government's total commitment to the project currently stands at SLR 450 million for the construction of houses and infrastructure facilities in Sobitha Thero village of Anuradhapura. The late Sobhitha Thero was an iconic Buddhist monk in the island nation's good governance movement. Responding to the drastic changes in the economic landscape of Sri Lanka, the Government of India decided to infuse additional funds into nine ongoing grant projects to expeditiously complete these projects, while also minimising the impact of the sharp rise in the cost of construction materials on the original scope of projects. The exten

Granted ASI nod, Bihar gears up for excavation of 2,600-year-old site

The Bihar government is preparing the process for exploration of Buddhist sites visited by Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang in present-day Vaishali district, and excavation of the remains of 2,600-year-old structures in Banka, officials said on Monday. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) recently granted permission to the Bihar Heritage Development Society (BHDS), a wing of the state's Art, Culture and Youth department, to work in these two places. The excavations will be made in Bhadaria village with links to Hindu mythology and Buddhism, in Banka district near the Chandan river. "It has been established that Bhadaria is a historical place. As per initial studies, the remains found there are 2,600 years old," said Harjot Kaur Bamhrah, Additional Chief Secretary of the state's Art, Culture and Youth department. The ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey, a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface, has already been conducted in Banka and surrounding areas t

Feline fables in Indian culture

There are Buddhist fables from the Jatakas, Islamic tales of cats beloved of the Prophet and his followers, references to them in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Pali, and the Egyptian deification

India allocates $15 mn grant to Sri Lanka to bolster Buddhist connections

India has allocated a "landmark" grant of USD 15 million to Sri Lanka to bolster the long-standing Buddhist connections between the two nations, officials here said on Friday. The bilateral agreement on the grant was signed on Thursday at the President's House in Colombo in the presence of President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her three-day visit to the island nation. The first project to be initiated under the USD 15 million grant is the solar electrification of religious sites across Sri Lanka, with an allocation of USD 10 million, the President's Media Division of Sri Lanka said in a statement. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for this significant project was jointly finalised by the governments of India and Sri Lanka, it said. The "landmark USD 15 million grant" strengthened Buddhist ties between India and Sri Lanka, the statement said. "This grant is specifically allocated to bolster the longstanding Buddhist connections between In

Guru Purnima 2023: All about the day celebrating Guru-Shishya relationship

On Guru Purnima, we celebrate the importance of the Guru in our life, one who liberates us from the intricate process of life and death, and bring us closer to our eternal "aatma,"or conscience

China devoting resources to hijack international Buddhism: Report

China is devoting considerable resources to hijacking international Buddhism and marginalize Tibetan Buddhists loyal to the Dalai Lama, Bitter Winter reported

LIVE: Delhi reports 1,603 new Covid cases, 1,526 recoveries in last 24 hrs

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PM Modi to address inaugural session of Global Buddhist Summit today

The two-day Summit is being hosted by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with International Buddhist Confederation (IBC)

PM to inaugurate Global Buddhist Summit in Delhi to be held on April 20-21

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a two-day Global Buddhist Summit in Delhi, to be held later this week, that will see the participation of eminent Buddhist monks, scholars and delegates from various parts of the world, Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Monday. Addressing a press conference here, he said the conference will be held at The Ashok hotel on April 20-21. The prime minister will inaugurate the conference that will be the first of its kind, given its scale and the stature of participants, Reddy said.

SCO countries bound by thought, philosphy of Buddhism: Meenakashi Lekhi

Meenakashi Lekhi said it was time to go back to Buddhist thought, cooperate and work together on the basis of the principle of non-violence

President Murmu inaugurates 7th International Dharma Dhamma Conference

President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the Seventh International Dharma Dhamma Conference, organised by the India Foundation in collaboration with the Sanchi University of Buddhist-Indic Studies

Buddhist monks across the globe participate in peace march to Dhauli

A large number of Buddhist monks from across the globe participated in a march in Bhubaneswar on Thursday as part of the golden jubilee celebration of the Peace Pagoda at Dhauli. Spreading Lord Buddha's messages, the monks walked from Special Circuit House to AG Square, from where they were taken in a bus to Dhauli Junction. From Dhauli Junction, they again walked to the Peace Pagoda, which is located 8 km south of Bhubaneswar. The monks came from the US, Japan, Ukraine and Sri Lanka, among other countries, to participate in the two-day celebration of the golden jubilee of the Shanti Stupa, an official said. On Friday, rituals and a mass peace prayer will be held. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is scheduled to attend the functions.

SC asks govt to file within 4 weeks response to pleas challenging CAA

Legislation that prompted nationwide protests was challenged on the ground that it allegedly is against the right to equality

Hindi, Hindu sans Hindutva

A fascinating account shows how much of the maverick writer and polymath's thinking was rooted in cosmopolitanism

PM Modi, Prez Kovind, VP Naidu greet nation on occasion of Buddha Purnima

'On Buddha Purnima we recall the principles of Lord Buddha and reiterate our commitment to fulfil them. The thoughts of Lord Buddha can make our planet more peaceful, harmonious and sustainable'

PM Modi to lay foundation for Buddhist Culture centre in Nepal today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for the construction of a unique centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage within the Lumbini Monastic Zone during his official visit to Nepal's Lumbini on Monday on the occasion of Vaishakha Buddha Purnima, informed the Ministry of Culture.At Lumbini, the Prime Minister will visit the sacred Mayadevi temple to offer prayers. Prime Minister will also deliver an address at a Buddha Jayanti event organized by the Lumbini Development Trust under the aegis of the Government of Nepal, said the ministry in its press release.The construction of the unique "India International Centre for Buddhist Culture & Heritage" with a universal appeal will be undertaken by the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), India under the auspices of the Lumbini Development Trust with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.International Buddhist Confederation is a grantee body under the Ministry of Culture. The ...

Sri Lanka's powerful Buddhist clergy threatens to issue anti-govt decree

The Buddhist clergy has decided to come out to press for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to make way for an interim government

UN court hearings set to resume in Rohingya genocide case on Feb 21

In August 2017, Myanmar's military launched what it called a clearance campaign in Rakhine state in the country's west in response to an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group

A discovery of India

Book review of The Light Of Asia: The poem That Defined The Buddha

India asks UN to oppose Hinduphobia, bigotry targeting Sikhism, Buddhism

India has called on the UN to take a direct stand against Hinduphobia and violent bigotry targeting the Sikhism and Buddhism