800 monks to pray in Delhi for Buddha Purnima
By IANSWednesday, May 26, 2010
NEW DELHI - Nearly 800 Buddhist monks and lamas from Tibet, Nepal and India will gather here Thursday to offer special prayers on the occasion of Buddha Purnima — which, they say, for the first time will fall on the same day as per the Hindu and Tibetan calendars.
Organised by the South Asia Buddhist Association, the one-and-a-half-hour-long prayer ceremony will be held in south Delhi and will have the 17th spiritual head of the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism attending it.
“It is for the first time that Buddha Purnima has fallen on the same day as per the Hindu and Tibetan calendars, which makes the day very auspicious. This is why monks and lamas from all over the country and Nepal and Tibet are going to be here to offer prayers and perform ceremonial practices,” a member of the South Asian Buddhist Association said.
“The 17th Karmapa, Trinley Thaye Dorje, of the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, will also attend the ceremony,” the member added.
The prayer ceremony, the member said, will be unique since the playing of a number of musical instruments on the occasion will make the atmosphere captivating.
Buddha Purnima, which falls on a full moon night in the month of Vaisakha, either in April or May, commemorates the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha.
