New Delhi, February 12 – Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama will inaugurate today a three-day International Conference on the heritage of India at the historic city of Nalanda in Bihar as part of the year-long celebrations of the 2550th anniversary of the `Mahaparinirvana` of Lord Buddha.
The conference has been organised by the capital-based Asoka mission, a premier Buddhist organisation, in collaboration with the Tourism and Culture Ministry, and the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, an autonomous institution under the Culture Ministry.
Eminent scholars from the fields of history, archaeology, art, philosophy and religion, drawn from Asia, Europe, North America and South America will discuss seven themes related to the heritage of Nalanda.
More than 300 delegates from 27 countries, including the US, Britain, Sri Lanka, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Sweden, South Korea, Cambodia, Nepal, Russia, Singapore and Thailand, besides India, will attend the conference.
This conference will be the first major event in the year-long celebrations of the 2550th anniversary of the Mahaparinirvana of Lord Buddha for which a national committee, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has been set up by the Culture Ministry.
Bihar Acting Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi and spiritual leaders like Je Khenpo of Bhutan and the Khambo Lamas of Mongolia and Russia are among those who will participate in the conference.
