By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Aug 31: The preparations for the Buddhist religious congregaton Kalachakra scheduled to take place in Bodh Gaya is gathering pace with the state government scaling up security measures to ensure maximum preparedness for over two lakh pilgrims expected to attend, come January 2017.
The District Magistrate of Gaya Ravi Kumar recently convened a meeting where the decision to employ drone cameras for aerial surveillance as a security measure was finalized, according to Times of India. Also over 100 CCTV cameras will be installed in and around the teaching premises to monitor proceedings, and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and fire fighters will be stationed.
The Kalachakra or the Dhue-Khor-Wang-Chen (Wheel of time teachings) will be organized by the Central Tibetan Administration. Representatives from the Kalachakra organizing committee, Health Minister Choekyong Wangchuk and Tenzin Lungtok, Additional Secretary for the Department of Religion and Culture, earlier met District Magistrate to discuss their expectations from government agencies.
On August 25, the committee’s head and CTA’s Minister for Religion and Culture Ven Karma Gelek Yuthok mentioned, “We have been busy with preparations including making reconnaissance visits to the venue and holding meetings with the state officials of Bihar and district officials of Bodh Gaya.The state and district officials have been very cooperative and has promised to render whatever assistance that is not feasible from the part of the organizing committee. And we are deeply thankful for that.”
The security measures at Bodh Gaya where the Kalachakra has been held four times previously (1974, 1985, 2003 and 2010) has become especially observed following the bomb blasts at Buddhist shrines in Gaya in 2013. The 2017 Kalachakra previously scheduled for 2016 was reportedly cancelled due to health of the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The Kalachakra 2017 will be held from 3 – 14 January 2017 in Bodh Gaya.
