Telangana base for Buddhism: Speaker

​Hyderabad: A two-day Buddhist international conference on ‘Global Celebration of Buddhist Heritage in Telangana’, jointly organised by Buddhavanam Project and the Telangana Tourism Department began here on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, Assembly Speaker S Madhusudana Chary said the only way to break structures of discrimination prevalent in the society was by following the teachings of Buddha. Participating as chief guest, the Speaker said Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao agitated peacefully and led the Telangana movement following Buddhist teachings.

Stressing that Telangana was the base for Buddhism, he said the number of villages named as Buddharam proved that a number of Aramas existed in the State. “However, this never came into light during the earlier regimes,” said he.

“Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the chief architect of Indian Constitution had included the concepts of liberty, equality and fraternity in the Indian Constitution not from the French Revolution but from the ideals of Buddhism,” said Mallepalli Laxmaiah, Special Officer of Buddhavanam Project in his presidential address.

Though Buddhism spread to other parts of the world during Asoka’s regime, it would be surprising to know that the teachings of Buddha had always been a part of Telangana, he added. “It is evident from the abundance of love and compassion among people of Telangana that they have embraced Buddhism from an early period,” said he.

According to Tourism Minister Azmeera Chandulal, the State government is determined to develop all the Buddhist sites identified in Telangana.

Many Buddhist scholars from India and abroad are attending the seminar. Around 63 delegates from 15 countries took part in the discussions held with great enthusiasm.