Thai spiritual delegation to explore Buddhist heritage in Gujarat
Gandhinagar: A spiritual and cultural delegation from Thailand, led by patriarch Somdej Phra Therayan Muni, met chief minister Bhupendra Patel in Gandhinagar on Wednesday. The delegation is on a seven-day visit to India and will spend five days in Gujarat, an official statement said.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
The delegation expressed condolences over the loss of lives in the Ahmedabad plane crash during the meeting with the CM.
An official statement said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced during his recent Thailand visit that sacred relics of Lord Buddha found in Devni Mori of Aravalli district would be sent to Thailand for exhibition. The Thai PM also assured cooperation in expanding the Buddhist circuit in India, which includes sites in Gujarat.
The delegation is scheduled to visit Vadodara, the Statue of Unity, and Dwarka, among other places in the state.
The delegation showed interest in the Buddhist heritage of Vadnagar and its connection with Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang). They were particularly eager to learn about the history of Devni Mori and the relics of Lord Buddha found there. Information was shared about the state's efforts and grand plans to develop Devni Mori as a global Buddhist pilgrimage site, the statement added.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
4 hours ago
- NDTV
Dalai Lama To Issue July 2 Message, Expected To Address Succession
The Dalai Lama will issue a message on July 2, Tibet's government in exile said Wednesday, days ahead of his 90th birthday and a hugely anticipated decision as to whether he will have an eventual successor. The Nobel Peace Prize-winning monk is expected to celebrate his 90th birthday on July 6 with huge crowds in northern India, his base since leaving his homeland fleeing Chinese troops in 1959. He has said his landmark birthday will also be a time to encourage people to plan for an eventual future without him and to address whether the Tibetan people want, in time, another Dalai Lama. While China condemns him as a rebel and separatist, the internationally-recognised Dalai Lama describes himself as a "simple Buddhist monk". Many exiled Tibetans fear China will name a successor to bolster control over a territory it poured troops into in 1950. The Dalai Lama stepped down as his people's political head in 2011, passing the baton of secular power to a government chosen democratically by 130,000 Tibetans around the world. - 'Free world' - Penpa Tsering, the sikyong or head of the government based in India's Himalayan hill town of McLeod Ganj, said that on July 2 there would be a meeting of the most senior Tibetan religious elders, or lamas. "There will be a brief meeting of all the head lamas, which is about nine of them, meeting with His Holiness (the Dalai Lama)", Tsering told reporters, adding that after that, they would open a religious meeting. "At the opening of the religious conference there will be a video message from His Holiness", he added. No details were given as to what the message will be, but there is widespread support among Tibetans in exile for the post of Dalai Lama to continue. The Dalai Lama has already said that if there "is a consensus that the Dalai Lama institution should continue", then the Office of the Dalai Lama -- the Gaden Phodrang Trust in McLeod Ganj -- would hold the responsibility for the recognition of the next leader. He has also made it clear that any successor would by necessity be "born in the free world". The Dalai Lama has said it does not seek full independence for Tibet, but rather to pursue a long-standing "Middle Way" policy seeking greater autonomy. The current Dalai Lama was identified in 1936 when, aged two, he passed a test by pointing to objects that had belonged to the post's previous occupier. He was hailed as the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, a role that stretches back more than 600 years.
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
Thai spiritual delegation to explore Buddhist heritage in Gujarat
Gandhinagar: A spiritual and cultural delegation from Thailand, led by patriarch Somdej Phra Therayan Muni, met chief minister Bhupendra Patel in Gandhinagar on Wednesday. The delegation is on a seven-day visit to India and will spend five days in Gujarat, an official statement said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The delegation expressed condolences over the loss of lives in the Ahmedabad plane crash during the meeting with the CM. An official statement said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced during his recent Thailand visit that sacred relics of Lord Buddha found in Devni Mori of Aravalli district would be sent to Thailand for exhibition. The Thai PM also assured cooperation in expanding the Buddhist circuit in India, which includes sites in Gujarat. The delegation is scheduled to visit Vadodara, the Statue of Unity, and Dwarka, among other places in the state. The delegation showed interest in the Buddhist heritage of Vadnagar and its connection with Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang). They were particularly eager to learn about the history of Devni Mori and the relics of Lord Buddha found there. Information was shared about the state's efforts and grand plans to develop Devni Mori as a global Buddhist pilgrimage site, the statement added.
Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Thai government on brink of collapse after Bhumjaithai party pulls out of coalition
The second biggest party in Thailand's ruling coalition pulled out on Wednesday over a leaked phone call between Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and former Cambodian leader Hun Sen, putting her government on the brink of collapse. The conservative Bhumjaithai party said "the country, people and army lost dignity" because of Paetongtarn's conduct in the call about a festering border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia. The loss of Bhumjaithai's 69 active members of parliament leaves the coalition led by Paetongtarn's Pheu Thai party with barely enough votes for a majority. If any other coalition partner pulls out, it could put the kingdom on course for a general election -- scarcely two years since the last one in May 2023. Bhumjaithai said in a statement announcing its withdrawal that the leaked phone call had "damaged the sovereignty and well-being of the country and Thai Army". "Bhumjaithai party calls on Paetongtarn to show responsibility for her actions that have made the country people and army lose dignity," the statement said. Paetongtarn, 38, came to power in August 2024 at the head of an awkward coalition between Pheu Thai and a group of conservative, pro-military parties whose members have spent much of the last 20 years battling against her father, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Growing tensions within the coalition erupted into open warfare in the past week as Pheu Thai tried to take the interior minister job away from Bhumjaithai leader Anutin Charnvirakul. The loss of Bhumjaithai leaves Pheu Thai's coalition with just a handful more votes than the 248 needed for a majority. In the leaked phone call Paetongtarn is heard discussing the border crisis with Hun Sen -- who stepped down as prime minister in 2023 after four decades but still wields considerable influence. She addresses the veteran leader as "uncle" and complains about the bad publicity she is suffering as a result of the standoff, which flared last month when troops exchanged fire, killing one Cambodian soldier. Paetongtarn has also suffered criticism for her lack of experience and leadership, as well as the sluggish performance of the Thai economy. If her position becomes untenable, she could call a snap election, which would be held within 60 days. Alternatively, she could resign and allow other party leaders to try to organise a coalition. The 2023 election, which swept away nearly a decade of military-aligned rule in Thailand, resulted in no single party dominating the lower house. The progressive Move Forward Party won most seats but was unable to muster enough votes to get its leader approved as prime minister. This opened the door for Pheu Thai to stitch together an uneasy pact with a handful of pro-military parties long staunchly opposed to the Shinawatra family. Paetongtarn's father and aunt Yingluck were both thrown out as prime minister by the army during a two-decade power struggle between Thaksin and the kingdom's conservative pro-royal establishment. Former Manchester City owner Thaksin, 75, still enjoys huge support from the rural base whose lives he transformed with populist policies in the early 2000s. But he is despised by Thailand's powerful elites, who saw his rule as corrupt, authoritarian and socially destabilising. The current Pheu Thai-led government has already lost one prime minister, former businessman Srettha Thavisin, who was kicked out by a court order last year, bringing Paetongtarn to office.
