Jajpur, Jan 13: Over 1200 monks from around the world have gathered in Odisha to attend the first Guru Padmasambhava Chanting Program which began on Sunday and will continue till January 16.

Buddhist Monks from 17 countries including India are participating in this convention to honour the spiritual legacy of Guru Padmasambhava, who is also known as Guru Rinpoche.

Rabindra Narayan Behera, Member of Parliament from Jajpur, Odisha said that Jajpur is an important district of India, "In this district, the Vande Matam was written. In this district, the Toshali Dynasty of King Ashoka existed in Radhanagar. This place was a seat of great intellectuals."

Speaking to ANI, about Guru Rinpoche, a monk from America said "Yes, he belongs to this state, this area. He belongs to this area. We believe that the research needs to come out, but we are here to pray for Guru Rinpoche. These are a sacred event to have all the monks pray at this time. The world is very uncertain. She mentioned about the wildfires in Odisha and the earthquake in Tibet. "The world is very shaky and we want to pray for peace", he said.

Head of the Padmasambhava monastery in Jiranga told ANI, "There has been long time aspiration in the hearts and minds of all the Buddhists who follow the teachings of Padmasambhava to hold such a gathering in memory and gratitude of Guru Padmasambhava, especially here in this holy place, because we believe and many historians now believe that Guruji probably was born in Odisha, but it is very sure that from here he carried the Buddha Dharma to Tibet and the rest of the Himalayas."

Describing Guru Padmasambhava, the monk said that Guru Padmasambhava is seen as a second god, "Because without him there would be no Buddhism in the whole of human life, in the whole of Tibet and because the Buddha Shakyamuni himself prophesied in the Parinirvana Sutra about the coming of the second Buddha that is Padmasambhava".

The event saw the participation of delegates from countries such as Bhutan, Laos, Thailand and the US amongst others. The event also saw processions and public gatherings in place.

Minister from Sikkim, Sonam Lama who was also attending the event thanked the Government of Odisha and PM Modi for organising the program.

"I wish that this Guru Rinpoche Program will be held every year in Orissa, and that tourism will also be developed here along with Dharma because wherever there is a Buddhist shrine, a temple, or any other holy place, there are many tourists who go there. They get blessings from there. I want to see tourists and devotees of Guru Rinpoche come to Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri and Udaygiri", he said.

(ANI)

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