Dalai Lama to attend international conference on Buddhism in Mumbai

Mumbai: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and prime ministers of Sri Lanka and Thailand will be attending `Dhamma Diksha', an international conference on Buddhism to be held in Mumbai next month, Union minister Ramdas Athawale said on Saturday.

The conference will be held at the sports stadium in Worli on December 15 and the Mahalaxmi Race Course on December 16, he told reporters here.

After Dr B R Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in Nagpur on October 14, 1956, he had planned to organise a Dhamma Diksha conference in Mumbai, but he passed away on December 6 that year, Athawale said.

"With the conference being held here this year, Ambedkar's dream will be fulfilled," he said.

Besides the Dalai Lama, Sri Lanka Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, Bhutan Princess Kesang Wangmo Wangchuk and Buddhist leaders from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries will attend the event, he said.

Athawale, a prominent Dalit leader from Maharashtra, appealed that Buddhists and Ambedkar's followers should attend the event in large numbers.