This is yet another of the Jataka tales I read on Internet today. The tale goes like this. The Buddha, in one of his earlier birth, was a monkey. Along with his brother, he ruled a band of eighty four thousand monkeys. The two brothers also had a blind mother. Once, the brothers set out in search of food and went far away. However, they sent food to their blind mother through other monkeys. They believed that the mokeys would take care of their mother but to their disappointment, they found their mother in an extremely neglected condition on their return. Saddened by the apathy of their fellow monkies,the two brother went to live in a seclusion along with their mother.
One day, a brahmin spotted the mother monkey and tried to kill her. The two brothers requested him to take their lives and let their mother go. The brahmin killed the two brothers, but even after that he was not satisfied and he killed the mother monkey too. The brahmin was overjoyed to have killed three monkeys in a day and was sure that his family would be proud of his possessions.
On reaching home, he was devasted to find that his entire family had been wiped out when a lightning struck the house. The brahmin went mad at the loss of his family.
The moral of the story is when you are cruel to others, fate treats you with equal cruelty.
Source:The Tale of Monkey Brothers
This is for all those who have a desire to visit sacred Buddhist places in India but really donot know how to plan out their trip. They find it difficult to locate a reliable tour operator in India who can arrange things for them. Here is a one stop destination – www.itopc.org is what I came across while surfing the net today. It has a number of tour operators listed in its members section. Some of the tour packages they offer are also listed here including the Buddhist tour packages. Also given are the website address of the individual tour operators, in case you would like to know more. The site, however, is not a travel agent site’s, so do not expect to make your bookings from there.
I think this is really going to help those who find it difficult to surf the net and select a tour operator for their trip.
Source:Looking for a Buddhist Tour in India?
Hey … here is a good news for all, as many of the world’s leading Tibetan-English translators are gathering next week in the tiny Indian village of Bir in northern India to map the future of Dharma translation for generations to come. What they decide could help make the Buddha’s core teachings available to millions worldwide. Read full story in Buddhist Channel
Source:Translating the Words of the Buddha
In a report released by the world tourism experts, 2 Indian sites are under danger due to the lack of proper preservation and maintenance work as well as changing climatic conditions.Incidentally,the two sites are related to Buddhism.
The first of these is the Dhankar Gompa in Himachal Pradesh faces neglect and also suffers from land erosion. The other one is the old Leh town. The weather patter is causing the damage here. Leh is one place where the Buddhist culture still thrives in India. Monasteries and monks can be spotted easily in this town. Leh is situated in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir
The lovers of culture and heritage, like me, will definitely wish that the two sites in India are given proper care and steps are taken to protect them from getting ruined. These sites should be there for the future generations to see.
Check out more on this news here
Source:Two Indian Buddhist Sites Amongst the World's 10 Endangered Treasures
The Ajanta and Ellora Caves of Maharashtra are amongst the most visited Buddhist sites of India. The Ajanta caves are around 110 km from Aurangabad while the Ellora caves are only 30 km away. Aurangabad itself is around 380 km NE of Mumbai, the commercial capital of India and capital city of Maharashtra.
At Ajanta, there are 30 Buddhist caves that were dug when Buddhism was thriving in India. Today, not all are in a good state. Cave 16 and 17 are exceptions, they are well preserved. The paintings here are inspired by the jatakas. A reclining Buddha image in Cave 26 is also worthseeing. 
The Ellora Caves are not just Buddhist, there are also some Hindu and Jain Caves here. Cave 16 again hogs the highlight here. Known as the Kailashnath Temple, the cave temple was carved out of a single piece of rock top down. The Buddhist caves (1-12) of Ellora are the oldest one here. Most of the Buddhist caves are viharas.
Both MSRTC (Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation) and ITDC (Indian Tourism Development Corporation) offer pacakges to tour the Ajanta and the Ellora caves. There are private tour opeartors as well who offer packages for Ajanta and ellora. Staying options are better in Aurangabad, hence most of the visitors on a trip to these caves put up in the city itself.
Check out the link here to find out more details on the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. There are also information on the various nearby tourist sites that can be visited after exploring the caves.
Source:Ajanta Ellora Caves
While surfing the net today, I came across this piece of news which I am sure must have delighted a lot many people. The news says that Nalanda still attracts attention of the Chinese and the hence it is showing great interest in the development of the site. It is great to see that authorities from two great countries are coming together to restore the heritage of Buddhist past. And Nalanda by no means occupies a small place in the past of Indian history. It has a significance which is unparalled. I think, once it is developed properly, it will attract numerous tourists form both India and abroad and this will really help spread awareness about the past of Buddhism.
The article also has another interesting piece of information. In China, there is a place named Rajgir in the Lingsa province. In India, Rajgir is a small town in the state of Bihar. Historically, it is the place where lord Buddha spent around 12 years and delivered many of his sermons. If you wish to know more about about Rajgir, you can visit Buddhist Tourism. The site also has information on number of other Buddhist places of interest in India.
For those who wish to read the above news, here is the link
Source:Developing Nalanda
Source:Buddha Image at Bodhgaya
‘Chap Goh Mei’ means it is Magh Puja to the Buddhist, a significant festival in Buddhist calender. It is celebrated on the day of full moon in the month of March in the countries like India, Thailand, Srilanka and Laos. The Buddhist festivals are very calm and quiet affair, the followers celebrate the spirit of Buddhism and listen the discussions on Dharma. Distribution of food to the monk and poor are an integral part of the Buddhist festival.
Origin of the Puja
According to the recorded in the commentary to the Mahāsamayasutta, nine months after the enlightenment of Lord Buddha at Veḷuvana Bamboo Grove, near Rājagaha in Northern India four marvelous events occured. These are
- 1,250 enlightened disciples of the Buddha spontaneously gathered
- every one of those enlightened disciples had been given monastic ordination personally by the Lord Buddha
- those disciples knew to meet together without any previous appointment
- it was the full-moon day.
And this auspicious day is marked as a Magh Puja day. On that special day Lord Buddha gave an important teaching to the assembled monk, 2500 years ago called ‘Ovādapātimokkha’, and these are laid own the principles of the Buddhist teachings. In Thailand, this teaching has been dubbed the ‘Heart of Buddhism’. This festival is also known as the Four fold Sangha because of these four features.
Celebration of the festival
Celebration of the festival varies from country to country but the festival is a time to come together carry out discussions of the various aspects of Buddha’s life and teachings. They do group meditation and candle light procession. It is a time to exchange gifts.
Significance of the festival
One of the most important Buddhist festival is Magha Puja. This festival honours the Buddhist community or Sangha. It is a time or chance to reaffirm the faith and commitment to Buddhist practices and traditions.
In 2009 the festival is on 11th March.
Know more about the Buddhist tourism in Buddhist Tourism
Source:Magh Puja
When railway authorities acquired the cremation land in Palei village for construction of a railway line from Haridaspur to Paradip, they must have had little idea of what they would come across during their work. In process of digging the earth for construction of wall, they came across relics that supposedly date back to 8-12 century.Prominent amongst the relics recovered from the site are the images of Lord Ganesha and Buddha.
There are other relics too that have been dug out from the site, however, the bad news goes that some of these relics were stolen.
I think that whenever such relics are recovered, authorities should take proper measures to ensure their safety. Also it becomes the responsibility of the local people to protect these relics. Theft of relics doesn’t really sounds good.
More on this news here
Source:Buddha Relics Unearthed in Orissa
The Government of Gujarat was looking for some sites there which can be linked with Buddhism. Finally The Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL) has come out with some spots in Gujarat which have some connections with Gautam Buddha. The purpose behind this is to promote Buddhism in the state Gujarat. Know the detail in Buddhist Channel .
Source:Gujarat government discovers’ state’s Buddha links, to develop tourism circuit