Indian president inaugurates Indian Style Buddhist hall in White Horse Temple, Luoyang |
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ZHENGZHOU, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Indian President Pratibha Patil on Saturday visited an ancient Buddhist temple in central China that is believed to be the starting point for Buddhism's spread from India into China.
Patil toured the White Horse Temple in Luoyang City, Henan Province, accompanied by the temple's abbot Shi Yinle, and inaugurated an Indian-style Buddhist hall as a gift to China.
A Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) emperor ordered the construction of the temple in honor of two Indian monks and horses that carried Buddhist scriptures and Buddha statues from India to the then capital Luoyang in 67 AD.
During Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India in 2005, the two countries agreed to build the Indian-style hall in the temple to commemorate the long history of bilateral ties.
The 3,450-sq-m hall was funded by the Indian government and constructed by the Chinese side, the first of its kind outside of India.
Wang Zhizhen, vice chairwoman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body, also attended the inauguration ceremony.
Following the visit, Patil left Henan for the ongoing World Expo in Shanghai, the last leg of her week-long state visit to China.
During her visit, the two sides agreed to boost cultural exchange and people-to-people contact.
The temple is dedicated to two Indian monks - Ksahyapamatanga and Dharmaratna-who travelled on horseback to China, carrying with them religious texts and an image of the Buddha.
President Patil was welcomed by Buddhist monks in yellow robes, as she entered the temple premises.
“The Indian-style Buddhist Temple is a gift from the people of India to a sister civilization - one with which we share so many valuable associations and memories of interaction,” she said in her speech.
“It is particularly appropriate that this inauguration takes place during the 60th Anniversary year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of India and the People’s Republic of China,” President Patil added.
Luoyang is widely considered to be the cradle of Chinese civilization. The White Horse Temple, being one of the first Buddhist Temples in China, has been a cultural and spiritual centre for centuries.
“Historically, it has the unique distinction of symbolizing an inter-mingling of Indian and Chinese cultures. As the resting place of two great cultural ambassadors from India, the monk-scholars Kashyapamatanga and Dharmaratna, it is a reminder of how our civilizations enriched each other,” President Patil said.
She said that civilizational contact between India and China dates back several millennia and Indian monks have contributed significantly to Buddhism in China.
“Equally remarkable was the role played by Chinese travellers and scholars such as Fa Xian, Xuan Zang and Yi Jing, whose writings not only enriched Chinese literature, but also proved to be a remarkable source of understanding of India’s own ancient history,” President Patil added.
The temple has a dome that 63 feet high and 80 feet in diameter and has a 16-feet tall statue of Buddha in a preaching position. Indian officials say it is modelled on lines of the Sanchi Stupa in Madhya Pradesh.
Patil is on a six-day visit to China. The visit ends May 31.
