Lankan team arrives in Ctg to collect hair relics of Buddha
Our Correspondent, Chittagong
An 11-member Sri Lankan delegation arrived in the port city yesterday evening to collect hair relics of Lord Gautam Buddha, which have been preserved in Chittagong Buddhist Monastery for the last 77 years. The delegation members include four Buddhist monks, Sri Lankan parliament member Athuralia Rathana Thero and Chandana Rohita Rajapaksa, son of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Four Buddhist monks and Athuralia Rathana Thero visited the Chittagong Buddhist Monastery at around 8:00pm. Chittagong Buddhist Association President Ajit Ranjan Barua and General Secretary Adarsha Kumar Barua welcomed them. Members of the Buddhist community greeted them with flowers and lighted earthen lamps. The monks also joined a prayer session at the pagoda along with local and Sri Lankan Buddhist devotees. Bangladesh Buddhist Association, authority of the monastery, is scheduled to hand over Buddha's hair relics to the Sri Lankan delegation in a ceremony on the monastery premises today. Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and Religious Affairs Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Dr ASM Motiur Rahman will attend the ceremony as special guests.
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