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Virtual Commemoration of the International Day of Vesak 2022

(13 May 2022; 0900-1030 hrs)

 

Statement by Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti

Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations

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Most Venerable Monks,

Excellencies, 

Distinguished Colleagues and Friends,

 

Namo Buddhaya!

 

I thank my esteemed colleagues, the Permanent Representatives of Sri Lanka and Thailand for their noble initiative in bringing us together to celebrate this annual event in New York. I am honoured to join you all. 

 

Vesak is a day for humanity to revere the birth, the enlightenment and the Parinirvana of Lord Buddha. A day to reflect on the supreme truth and timeless relevance of Dhamma, and The Four Noble Truths.

 

Vesak continues to be an occasion to reaffirm and strengthen the cultural and civilizational ties that bind the nations of our region. Buddhism has played a major role in our composite culture and pluralism. It is a day of enormous significance for us in India, and for Buddhists around the world. 

 

Friends,

 

Our region is blessed to have given to the world the invaluable gift of the Buddha and his teachings. Bodh Gaya in India, where Prince Siddhartha became the Buddha, is the sacred nucleus of the Buddhist universe. Lord Buddha’s first sermon in Varanasi set in motion the wheel of Dhamma. In fact, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will visit Lumbini in Nepal - the birthplace of Buddha - on the day of Vesak to celebrate our shared Buddhist heritage. 

 

Buddhism and its various strands are deep rooted in our governance, culture and philosophy. Our key national symbols have taken inspiration from Buddhism. Buddhism spread from India to all corners of the globe.

 

Vesak is an occasion for us to celebrate this unbroken shared heritage of Buddhism. 

 

Friends, 

 

Lord Buddha taught us compassion and welfare of all. As the world tries to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, these are required all the more, especially to stand firm against forces of terror and radicalization. 

 

At a personal level, I consider myself blessed that, in my career, I have been able to oversee the making and gifting by India of the replica of the Buddha of Sarnath to Sri Lanka and also assist in erecting the replica of the 1st century Torana Gate of the Sanchi Stupa in Malaysia and in India’s renovation of priceless Buddhist heritage sites in Myanmar and in many parts of the world.

 

Thank you. 

 

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