Buddha's Holy Relics To Travel To Russia's Kalmykia Republic For First-Ever Exposition

(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) The Holy Relics of the Buddha from the National Museum here will travel to Russia's Kalmykia Republic for their first-ever such exposition starting September 24, an official from the Ministry of Culture said on Monday.

The Holy Relics will be accompanied by a high-level delegation of senior Indian and international Monks to bless and enable prayers by the predominantly Buddhist population of the region, said the official in a statement.

From the National Museum, the Holy Relics will be transported with great reverence and escorted by senior monks with full religious sanctity and protocol to Kalmykia by a special Indian Air Force aircraft.

The Ministry, in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), National Museum, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), is organising for the first time an exposition of the sacred Buddha Relics.

This exposition will be held at the 3rd International Buddhist Forum to be held in Elista, the capital of Russia's Kalmykia Republic, from September 24-28, said the statement.

The highlight of the Forum, themed 'Buddhism in the New Millennium', will be the Shakyamuni's Sacred Relics from India, four exhibitions organised by IBC and the National Museum, and three Special academic lectures.

The Relics will be enshrined in the main Buddhist monastery in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, known as the Geden Sheddup Choikorling Monastery, also called the "Golden Abode of Shakyamuni Buddha."

This is a significant Tibetan Buddhist centre, opened for the public in 1996 and is surrounded by the Kalmyk steppe.

Earlier, a high-level delegation of Monks from Kalmykia had visited India and requested the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Sekhawat and the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, for the sacred Relics of the Buddha to be taken to their hometown for veneration and blessings.

The high-level Indian delegation will be led by Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya, and other officials will accompany the Holy Relics.

The IBC delegation led by the Director General will include H.H. 43rd Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, Head of the Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism, H.E. 13th Kundeling Taktsak Rinpoche, Drepung Gomang Monastery, H.E. 7th Yongzin Ling Rinpoche and 17 other senior monks. The three senior-most Venerables from India will offer a Blessing Session for the local devotees.

On the occasion, two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) will also be signed. These are one between the Central Spiritual Administration of Buddhist Russia and the International Buddhist Confederation, and the other with the Nalanda University.

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