Date:06/01/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/01/06/stories/2006010601631900.htm

Back Monks, pilgrims throng Kalachakra ceremony

Ch. R. S. Sarma

Amaravathi (Guntur district) , Jan. 5

KALACHAKRA 2006 — the Buddhist initiation and empowerment ceremony — got underway here on Thursday, as thousands of monks and devotees arrived at Amaravathi. His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, began the earth ritual prayer in the morning at the main preaching site opposite the giant Dhyana Buddha statue being constructed.

The Kalachakra is the means of achieving the `Bodhicitta,' realisation of `shunyata' (the transience of the phenomenal world) and attainment of `Buddhahood.'

The State Minister for Tourism, Ms J. Geetha Reddy, said that the Lower Nagarjuna Valley would be developed at a cost of Rs 25 crore as a Buddhist pilgrimage and tourist centre in three phases.

The town of Amaravathi (historically known as Dhanyakataka) was the place where the Lord Buddha first preached the Kalachakra empowerment mantra. Buddhists from 48 countries and several Tibetan refugee settlements in the country thronged the temple town to receive the teaching of the Dalai Lama.

The estimated number of pilgrims now is 35,000, which is likely to go up to one lakh during the four crucial days of `empowerment' from January 12 to 16.