All arrangements are being made for the exposition of the Sariputra and Mahamoggallana Sacred Relic enshrined in the Sanchi Chetiyagiri Temple in India scheduled to be held on November 25 and 26, Chief Incumbent of Chetiyagiri Viharaya, Chairman of Sri Lanka Mahabodhi Society and Chief Sanganayaka of Japan Ven. Banagala Upatissa Thera said.
Chairman of Sri Lanka Mahabodhi Society and Japan Chief Incumbent Ven. Banagala Upatissa Thera.
The Sri Lanka Mahabodhi Society and Madhya Pradesh Government, India will jointly organise the annual Sariputra and Mahamoggallana (Agrasravaka) sacred relic exposition at the Sanchi Chetiyagiri Temple in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, which was built by Emperor Dharmashoka in the second century BC for his wife Vidisa Devi, in a grand manner this time on November 25 and 26.
According to the request of the late Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, this “Sariputra and Mahamoggallana” Agrashrawaka relic exposition and the Sanchi Mahabodhi Festival has been held continuously since 1952. According to Ven. Banagala Upatissa Thera, this year will be the 71st festival.
The Ven. Thera said that nearly one hundred thousand Indian Buddhist devotees and Buddhist devotees and bhikkhus from foreign countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam and Myanmar and several others including China and Japan are billed to attend the Sanchi Mahabodhi Festival annually.
Director of Sanchi Chethiyagiri Vihara and Sanchi Vandana Niketanadhna Ven. Banagala Vimalatissa Thera said that the Sri Lanka Mahabodhi Association, the Madhya Pradesh Government and Ambekkar Buddhist Association have already planned the hospitality for the visiting bhikkhus, bhikkhunis and devotees to the festival.
The Central Government of India has made arrangements to stop all passenger trains from Bhopal and suburban cities passing through Sanchi at Sanchi railway station on these two days.
A group of Sri Lankan journalists will participate in the media coverage of the Sanchi Mahabodhi Festival this year, and arrangements have been made to broadcast the Sadaham Dahara Poya program live from the Sanchi Chethiyagiri Vihara Premises, on the Sinhala Commercial Service of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (94.3/94.5). Ven. Udugama Tapassi Thera, a resident of Sanchi Chethiyagiri Vihara said.
