Vesak Memorial Stupa dedicated to the United Nations
UNITED NATIONS: The Vesak World Peace Buddhist Stupa was
handed over formally to the United Nations at a ceremony yesterday at
the United Nation Headquarters in New York.
The Stupa containing the Sacred Relics of the Buddha gifted by
Buddhists in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar is made of brass casket
with pure gold leaves.
The Stupa, named as Memorial Stupa, commemorates the auspicious
occasion that United Nation General Assembly adopted a Resolution on
International Recognition of the Day of Vesak by the United Nation
Headquarters and other UN offices in 1999.
Since 2000, under the patronage of His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch
of Thailand, the Stupa has travelled the world touching over 30
countries as a symbol of peace.
The Memorial Stupa will be in continuous display at a solemn location
in the United Nations and available for public viewing.
The Stupa dedication ceremony was attended by a large number of
invitees and Buddhist Monks in New York.
Speaking on this occasion Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam, Permanent
Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations paid a tribute to late
Lakshman Kadirgamar, then Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka who took the
initiative in 1999 on behalf of Sri Lanka and a large number of other
co-sponsor States to table a United Nation Resolution calling for the
International Recognition of the Day of Vesak.
Kariyawasam added: "Minister Kadirgamar was inspired by the desire of
many Buddhists in the world that it is timely that the international
community honour the Buddha by declaring Vesak Day as a special day for
the United Nations and in recognition that the Teachings of the Buddha
have immensely contributed to the understanding of the human condition
and promoting universal peace and equality among peoples for over 2500
years". |