(Venerable Ananda - General Secretary of Mahabodhi Society)
19/12/2010: Message from Bhante: We are celebrating annual Dhammapada Festival from 12th to 20th March 2010, which also marks the 90th birthday of our teacher Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita (Venerable holding the puja tray). As a mark of respect and gratitude to Ven.Acharya Buddharakkhita who has worked very hard to revive the Buddha Sasana in India for 54 years, we have planned several programs during this nine day period. One of the main programs will be paritta chanting.
The main event will be on 19th March which is also a full moon day. On this day we will be inaugurating Bhagavan Buddha University of Pali and Theravada Buddhism in our campus constructed by the government of India. The programs will continue on 20th also. You may choose the days convenient to you.
The program is as follows:
12-3-2011:Inauguration of 9-day Dhammapada festival and day long Dhamma desana. Evening Paritta chanting will begin
13-3-2011:Morning Dhamma discourse and afternoon rest
14 to 18th -3-2011:There will be poor patient’s service at hospitals daily from 4-6 pm. The venerable monks will join and bless the patients.
19-3-2011:Inauguration of University building and other programs in the morning. In the evening Dhamma talks. Second night long paritta chanting on this poya day.
20-3-2011:Morning Dhamma talk, noon inter religious conference, evening conclusion of 9-day programs
21-3-2011:Visit to Mahabodhi branch in Mysore
22-3-2011:Visit to Bylakuppe Tibetan monasteries
With metta,
Ven.Ananda
General Secretary &
Ven. Vinayarakkhita
Maha Bodhi Society,
14, Kalidasa Road,
Gandhinagar,
Bangalore-560009, India
Tel: (91) 080-22250684
Fax: (91) 080-22264438
Email: info@mahabodhi.info
www.mahabodhi.info
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Visa-on-arrival for Buddhist pilgrims from 5 more countries
NEW DELHI: As a New Year gift to Buddhist pilgrims, the government has decided to extend Visa-on-arrival facility to five ASEAN countries from January 1.
"It is being decided that Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) facility would be extended to five more countries -- Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. The scheme would be operational from the New Year 2011," a senior tourism ministry official said.
The single-entry visa, to be issued at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata airports, will have a validity of 30 days.
"The decision was taken after due discussion with the ministries of external affairs and home. A formal announcement in this regard will be made soon," the official said, adding, "the VoA would facilitate in attracting more Buddhist pilgrims from these countries."
India had launched the VoA in January on a pilot basis for Singapore, New Zealand, Japan, Finland and Luxembourg.
"The response is so far good and 5,644 tourists availed this facility between January and November this year. Now we want to include more countries," he said.
Tourism ministry has signed an MoU with International Finance Corporation to develop the Buddhist circuit.
"Currently, there is a special train connecting Buddhist sites and steps are being taken to make this circuit a well-connected route," the official said.
Read more: Visa-on-arrival for Buddhist pilgrims from 5 more countries - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Visa-on-arrival-for-Buddhist-pilgrims-from-5-more-countries/articleshow/7086454.cms#ixzz17tsCaOXB
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Happy to inform you that you can actually travel by train on a Pilgrimage to India. Kindly follow the link below for more information.
http://www.railtourismindia.com/buddha
Special Thanks and in gratitude to Ven. Vinayarakkhita Thera (picture above) for the above link.
Some information about Bhante: He is presently Principal of the Mahabodhi Monastic Insitute, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Bhante was ordained as a monk in 1998, an Indian Monk graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Osmania University, Hyderabad. Bhante started to give Dharmma talks and teaching meditation since 2004.
He may be contacted via Email: vinayarakkhita@yahoo.co.in
Sadhu!
