Indian Railways will launch a special Buddhist Train ‘Damba Diwa
Vandana’ later this year from Chennai, to cater to the Sri Lankan
pilgrims, Ashok K. Kantha, High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka said
at Kandy on Sunday.
There were a large number of Buddhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka to India
and the train will be a cheaper alternative mode of transportation to
the pilgrim sites. Mr. Kantha said that this was among the initiatives
that reflected India’s desire to strengthen the cultural and
people-to-people linkages with Sri Lanka, with which India shared deep
historical bonds.
He was speaking at the International Buddhist Conference organised by
the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). Sri Lankan President
Mahinda Rajapaksa, inaugurated the conference. The Prime Minister D.M.
Jayaratne also participated.
Scholars from Cambodia, Indonesia, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka,
Thailand and Vietnam are participating in the Conference, which has as
its theme “Cultural Interface between India and Sri Lanka based on
Buddhist History, Art, Literature and Philosophy”. The papers presented
at the two-day Conference will be published in the form of a volume.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Mr. Suresh K. Goel, Director
General, ICCR reiterated the commitment of ICCR to strengthening the
cultural relationship between India and Sri Lanka through activities
such as exchange of cultural troupes, exhibitions, distinguished
visitors and scholarships.
The Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Buddhasasna and
Religious Affairs of Sri Lanka, together with the Sri Lanka
International Buddhist Academy and the University of Peredeniya were the
partner institutes for the Conference, which is being organised as part
of the joint commemoration by India and Sri Lanka of the 2600th
anniversary of the attainment of enlightenment by Lord Buddha.
The Conference being organised in Kandy is the third such conference on
Buddhism sponsored by ICCR, following similar events in Singapore and
Cambodia. More international conferences on Buddhism are on the anvil
for Nepal and Vietnam.
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