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China Buddhists coming

Pallavi Aiyar

"Auspicious beginning for India-China friendship year"

Beijing: In an event reminiscent of the great days of Buddhist pilgrimage from China to India during the Tang dynasty, a 123-member delegation will visit Indian cities between January 5 and 12.

Monks, officials and lay Buddhists will travel to New Delhi, Varanasi, Bodhgaya, Nalanda and Rajgir.

Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao said the visit was an auspicious beginning of 2007, being celebrated as the `Year of India China Friendship through Tourism.'

The group will be led by the venerable Jue Xing, vice-chairman of the Buddhist Association of China and chief abbot of the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai.

Abbot Jue said the Buddhists saw India as a holy and fascinating land. He dubbed Buddhism a `commonwealth' of India and China.

A staunch moderniser, his decision last year to send 18 of his monks to do MBA in a new programme in "Temple Management" at Shanghai Jiaotong University proved controversial. Critics felt that there was an inherent tension between the commercialism implied in an MBA and the spirituality expected of monks.

Abbot Jue defended the move, saying even monks had to adapt to the changing times.

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