Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju has said that India is the birthplace and the cradle of Buddhism. Interacting with a delegation of top Buddhist Supreme Head and high ranking monks of Sri Lanka and Supreme Monks from Mahayana sect of India and Tibetan group here today, Shri Rijiju said that the Government will ensure the upkeep and maintenance of all archaeological sites in the country. The Buddhist monks participated in a two-day historic conclave that concluded in the city today. The event witnessed the coming together of two ancient Buddhist traditions – the Theravada tradition from Sri Lanka and the Nalanda tradition of Tibet and the Himalayas. A high powered delegation of monks and religious opinion makers from Sri Lanka, which included three Mahanayakas of various chapters, engaged in a “Dialogue on Vinaya” with their counterparts of the Nalanda tradition that included Ven. Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, former Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-exile. The Sri Lankan delegation also separately met His Holiness the Dalai Lama as a part of the programme.
This meeting of the two traditions, the first in 1300 years since the reign of King Harshavardhana in the 7th century, was organized by the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), a world umbrella Buddhist body headquartered in India, that is universally acknowledged as the land of origin of Buddha Dharma, and was coordinated by the IBC Sri Lanka Chapter. The organization has a current membership of more than 300 Buddhist bodies spread over 39 countries. Its Patrons include His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Supreme Patriarchs from various Buddhist countries. Recognized by the Government of India as a “Cultural Organization with National Presence”, IBC aims to provide an international platform that will provide a Buddhist perspective to the ongoing global discourse on all issues of human concern.