Bhubaneswar: Buddhist monks from across the world took out a peace march on the occasion of golden jubilee of the Shanti Stupa at Dhauli near Odisha capital on Thursday.
Around 200 monks, followers and disciples of Buddhism including chief monk of Japan participated in the peace march. It started from Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar and culminated at Dhauli. The participants, holding banners written with the Buddhist prayer “Na mu myo ho ren ge kyo” and chanting hymns with ‘beopgo’ (traditional Buddhist musical instrument), walked all the way.
The monks have come from the US, Japan, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and other countries to participate in the two-day celebration of the golden jubilee of the Shanti Stupa, one of the organisers of the march said. In a message on the occasion, chief of Buddhism followers in Japan said the march was carried out to send the message of world peace and harmony, he added.
The Buddist monks would also take out another peace march from Circuit House to Shanti Stupa. On the second day on Friday, a puja will be performed at 9.45 am. Along with puja, there would be mass peace prayer at the Shanti Stupa. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is scheduled to attend the celebration.
