Amaravati to be made intl Buddhist learning centre

The state government will spare no effort in developing Amaravati as an international Buddhist learning and tourist centre, said Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy while addressing the media here on Monday.

The chief minister was responding to the sentiments expressed by the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama for the glorious future of Amaravati, particularly after the Kalachakra festival.

Answering a question, YSR said the government was not displeasing the Chinese government in any way by extending what was considered in some circles as 'excess' hospitality to the Dalai Lama and thousands of monks, Buddhists and Tibetans.

"The Dalai Lama has been a revered guest of the Government of India for almost five decades. As a refugees' leader, he is entitled to the hospitality. He is not a political adversary of the Chinese, but only a religious head."

Earlier, addressing about 10,000 monks and thousands of people at the Kalachakra preaching site, Rajasekhar Reddy hoped that the state would benefit out of the international Kalachakra empowerment congregation as the holy mantras recited by a sea of monks would charge the environment with positive energy and do good to people.

"The state is full of innumerable Buddhist holy sites and shrines, including the recently excavated Thotlakonda and Baavikonda, and has a vast potential to attract world tourists," he said.

The Dalai Lama, while blessing the chief minister and thanking him for the cooperation extended by the state in holding the tantrik meet, expressed confidence that the state administration was capable of developing Amaravati as an international learning centre of Buddhism with stress on Nagarjuna's philosophy.

He said there were Tibetan settlements in Karnataka, which housed monastic universities exclusively on Nagarjuna's Buddhism. Nagarjuna was called the second Buddha.

He stayed at Amaravati for a long time, learning, teaching and writing books. The Buddha taught Kalachakra for the first time at Amaravati 2,550 years ago, hence the town was the most sacred shrine for Buddhists the world over.

The Dalai Lama, who continued his discourse on Nagarjuna's middle path on Monday, the fifth day of the Kalachakra festival, released, along with the chief minister, a special commemorative postal cover on Kalachakra-2006. V Sudhakar, postmaster general, Hyderabad, was present on the occasion.

The Dalai Lama also consecrated the Dhyana Buddha statue and opened the Buddhist Interpretation Centre. The chief minister unveiled Dr B R Ambedkar statue at Sattenapalli road junction and laid stone for a colony named after Kalachakra-2006.