ITANAGAR, OCT 1:

Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh will host an exposition of the sacred relics of the Buddha from November 1 to 7, with preparations underway for the event, officials said on Thursday.

The event is being organised by the Union Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the state government, the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) and the National Museum.

An Advance Security Liaison (ASL) team led by IBC director Colonel (Retd) Yash Saxena, along with National Museum officials, arrived in Tawang to review security, logistics and other arrangements for the exposition, an official statement said here.

The team conducted a detailed reconnaissance of the proposed route and the venue where the sacred relics will be placed for public exposition.

The arrangements will allow devotees and visitors to have ‘darshan’ of the relics and pay their respects.

The team also inspected the proposed venue for the International Buddhist Conference, scheduled to be held in Tawang from November 2 to 3.

The conference is expected to bring together Buddhist representatives and delegates from different countries.

The sacred relics of Buddha are preserved at the National Museum in New Delhi and have been taken to different places for public exposition.

Tawang had earlier hosted an exposition of the relics in 2013, which drew around 26,000 devotees.

The forthcoming exposition is expected to attract a much larger gathering.

The programme coincides with Lhabab Düchen, one of the most important sacred days in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar.

It commemorates the Buddha’s descent to Earth from the Heaven of the Thirty-Three after giving teachings there.

As part of the preparations, the ASL team will hold a coordination meeting with officials of various departments in Tawang on Friday.

The meeting will discuss and finalise arrangements for security, logistics, crowd management, movement of devotees and the conduct of the associated programmes. (Source: PTI)