The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Gearing up for Kaalchakra

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Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Gearing up for Kaalchakra

Staff Reporter

For Tourism Minister, Buddhist fete at Amaravathi will be the `mother of all events'

Respectfully: Buddhist monks lead the procession carrying the relics of Gautam Buddha from the State Museum in the city on Monday on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti.

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh would showcase Buddhism like never before and the "Kaalchakra Initiation Ceremony" slated for January, 2006 in Amaravathi would be the mother of all events, promised the Tourism Minister, J. Geeta Reddy.

Among those who received the Holy Relics of Lord Gautama Buddha at a special display on the Necklace Road were the Secunderabad MP, M. Anjan Kumar Yadav, apart from senior officials.

She said an estimated two lakh Buddhists were expected to be present at `Kaalchakra' which would be attended by the Dalai Lama. It was the first time that the relics were being brought in a procession from the Public Gardens to People's Plaza, he added.

Relics found in Vizag

Mrs. Geeta Reddy went on to narrate how in 1993, the relics had been found in Bavikonda near Visakhapatnam in 1993. The State was truly `blessed' in finding the Holy Relics, she said, going on to say that the Congress Government had allocated Rs. 8 crores for the Nagarjunakonda Buddhist Project and Rs. 2.5 crores for works at Amaravathi in connection with `Kaalchakra'.

Earlier, the Holy Relics procession was commenced by the Minister for School Education and Archaeology, N. Rajyalakshmi, at the State Museum in Public Gardens where a special Holy Relics Gallery has been created.

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