Modi to attend UN Vesak Day celebration in Sri Lanka

[Gibbs]

Modi to attend UN Vesak Day celebration in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has confirmed his participation in UN Vesak Day celebrations to be conducted in Sri Lanka in May this year, a minister said on Friday.

The UN Vesak Day will be observed in Sri Lanka to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha who founded the Buddhism religion.

Sri Lanka is predominately a Buddhist country with more than 70 percent of the population following the region.

Sri Lanka's Justice and Buddhasasana Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told Xinhua that the government invited a number of world leaders and Indian Prime Minister Modi had confirmed his participation.

"We are going to celebrate the thrice blessed day on a grand scale," he said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-02/17/c_136064694.htm

 

[Guynextdoor2]

See, you have more in common with India than otherwise. This is shared heritage.

 

[Gibbs]

See, you have more in common with India than otherwise. This is shared heritage.

I dont think anyone denied it.. The majority Sinhalese Buddhists are Indic people and the Tamils and majority of Muslims are Dravidian.. Both originating from the sub continent

 

[Guynextdoor2]

I dont think anyone denied it.. The majority Sinhalese Buddhists are Indic people and the Tamils and majority of Muslims are Dravidian.. Both originating from the sub continent

ANd yet you people spend so much time trying to say how differnet you are from all of India. Like Tamilians are exactly like the Bengalis & Biharis. Hell difference is the hallmark of India. We can be bros despite it.

 

[Gibbs]

ANd yet you people spend so much time trying to say how differnet you are from all of India. Like Tamilians are exactly like the Bengalis & Biharis. Hell difference is the hallmark of India. We can be bros despite it.

Well there are commonalities and there are distinct differences, The island has developed it's own unique culture life style and language through the millennia because of it's physical separation from the sub continent but thats not to say the people living there were dropped off by aliens, They all migrated first from the sub continent Eastern, Northern and southern parts of whats now India and later from the Middle East, Malay peninsular and Europe

Sinhalese culture and Sinhalese Buddhist civilization is unique to the island and you wont see it anywhere else in the world, From language, Architecture, Culture, Religious practices, Life style.. So yeah it's different but with some similarities with rest of the sub continental people

Even Lankan Tamils arnt Exactly like their Tamil Nadu counter parts, There are distinct differences there as well.. From the Dialect to customs

 

[HeinzG]

Even Lankan Tamils arnt Exactly like their Tamil Nadu counter parts, There are distinct differences there as well.. From the Dialect to customs

There are minor differences. Not major ones. That is normal for a group of people who has been separated from their main social group for few centuries. Where the Sinhalese community shows massive difference from their Indian counter part, which is the heritage of 2500 years of separate nation building.

That is the basis to debunk the Tamil myth of separate homeland in Sri Lanka.

 

[Ryuzaki]

good gesture

 

[Gibbs]

Prime Minister Modi to renew links with Buddhism during his visit to Sri Lanka in May

By P.K.Balachandran | Express News Service | Published: 17th February 2017 09:30 PM |

File Photo of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. | Reuters

COLOMBO : Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be renewing his links with Buddhism when he visits Sri Lanka as one of the chief guests at the United Nations Vesak Festival to be held here from May 11 to 13.

The Sri Lankan Minister of Justice and Buddha Sasana, Wijayadasa Rajapakshe, told Xinhua on Friday that several heads of government and state have been invited for the landmark event recognized by the UN, and that Modi has confirmed his participation.

“We are going to celebrate the thrice blessed day on a grand scale,” Rajapakshe said.

Vesak Day marks the birth, enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha. It is recognized as an international festival by the United Nations.

Modi has a strong bond with Buddhism and had made Gujarat a part of the Buddhist pilgrimage trail in India when he was Chief Minister of that state.

In fact, he has often proudly stated that his home town, Vadnagar, was an established Buddhist center of learning in ancient times and Baruch, as a port, had played a critical role in the spread of Buddhism overseas.

Modi got the Gujarat Archeology Department to dig up and preserve buildings associated with Buddhism in ancient times.

Speaking at the International Seminar on Buddhist Heritage in Gujarat in 2010, in which the Dalai Lama was a participant, Modi said: “ The link between Buddha and Gujarat is as old as Buddha himself. The trade and commerce of Gujarat played a role in bringing Buddhism to western India. The reason why Gujarat and particularly the port of Bharukaccha (modern Baruch), is frequently mentioned in the oldest Buddhist literature is obvious. Traders coming from Buddhist centers like Benaras and Vaisali brought Buddhism to Gujarat during its early days along with their merchandise.”

“The Ashokan rock edict in Jungadh bears witness to the spread of Buddhism in Gujarat during his time. During the time of Greeks, Partho-Scythians, Satvahanas, the Bodhi dynasty, Ksatrapas and Saka rulers, several rock-cut Buddhist structures came up in Gujarat, many of which have not been excavated yet.”

“During the time of the Maitraka kings, there were more than 13,000 monks in Gujarat. We also had one of the greatest Buddhist universities, the Vallabhi Buddhist University in Vallabhipur in Gujarat, during that period.”

“Gujarat is also the land of Shantideva, who gave the marvelous Bodhcaryavatara – one of the landmark texts in Buddhism in Sanskrit, which is known to us as the way of the Bodhisattva.”

“Prosperous Gujarat, whose warehouses were full, and whose merchants carried out extensive commercial activity according to Hieun Tsang, supported intellectual giants of Buddhism like Dharmagupta, Shrimathi and Gunamathi.”

“Chinese traveler Hieun Tsang travelled extensively to places like Bharuch, Kutch, Vallbhipur, Saurasthra, including Vadnagar, and noted that both Hinayana and Mahayana were practiced in Gujarat.”

http://www.newindianexpress.com/wor...ng-his-visit-to-sri-lanka-in-may-1571737.html

 

[Godman]

ANd yet you people spend so much time trying to say how differnet you are from all of India. Like Tamilians are exactly like the Bengalis & Biharis. Hell difference is the hallmark of India. We can be bros despite it.

I don't remember saying that. Sri Lankans are obviously related to Indians and have similar cultural practices and traditions but are unique from Indians

 

[Shinigami]

I don't remember saying that. Sri Lankans are obviously related to Indians and have similar cultural practices and traditions but are unique from Indians

south indians have more in common with sri lankans than central indians, who have not much in common with bengalis, who have even less in common with UP Biharis, who have even less in common with punjabis and hurriyanvis, then there is gujrat. india is a continent posing as a nation

 

[samv]

ANd yet you people spend so much time trying to say how differnet you are from all of India. Like Tamilians are exactly like the Bengalis & Biharis. Hell difference is the hallmark of India. We can be bros despite it.

You sure are.

Violence against Muslims in India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_against_Muslims_in_India

Anti-Christian violence in India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Christian_violence_in_India

Caste-related violence in India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste-related_violence_in_India

1984 anti-Sikh riots
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_anti-Sikh_riots

Naxalite–Maoist insurgency
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxalite–Maoist_insurgency

Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurgency_in_Jammu_and_Kashmir

Dozens of Muslims killed in ethnic violence in north-east India
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...killed-ethnic-violence-north-east-india-assam

Cauvery row: Violence erupts again
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/Cauvery-row-Violence-erupts-again/article14634879.ece

Attacks on Sri Lankans in Tamil Nadu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attacks_on_Sri_Lankans_in_Tamil_Nadu

 

[Deadpool]

Well there are commonalities and there are distinct differences, The island has developed it's own unique culture life style and language through the millennia because of it's physical separation from the sub continent but thats not to say the people living there were dropped off by aliens, They all migrated first from the sub continent Eastern, Northern and southern parts of whats now India and later from the Middle East, Malay peninsular and Europe

Sinhalese culture and Sinhalese Buddhist civilization is unique to the island and you wont see it anywhere else in the world, From language, Architecture, Culture, Religious practices, Life style.. So yeah it's different but with some similarities with rest of the sub continental people

Even Lankan Tamils arnt Exactly like their Tamil Nadu counter parts, There are distinct differences there as well.. From the Dialect to customs

There are large similarities and there are some differences.
It is always up to us to choose what we focus on and play up, the commonalities or the differences...and that will always decide what relations we are able to maintain - as individuals as well as nations.

 

[Gibbs]

There are large similarities and there are some differences.
It is always up to us to choose what we focus on and play up, the commonalities or the differences...and that will always decide what relations we are able to maintain - as individuals as well as nations.

Well it's not uniform

Sri Lankans are not a homogeneous society that Indians tend to think it is atleast it's not just Tamils and Sinhalese.. Different groups of Lankans have varying degrees of affinity to the subcontinent.. Tamils have more similarities with it considering majority of them are Hindu's and have similar cultural practices, such as Caste etc

Sinhalese less so, Because they have established quite a unique civilization of their own, Cut out from the larger Sub continent for long periods of times but certainly with it's influences

Other communities like the Malay's and Burghers even less so