Buddha Statue from Lanka awaits clearance for Installation

Chennai, Jun 2: A Buddha statue, brought from Sri Lanka by Buddhist monks, is awaiting official clearance for installation at Tiruttani, about 90 km from here.

The four-and-a-half-foot statue was brought to Tiruttani by the monks on May 30, after taking it in a procession and offering special prayers in Colombo, for installation in a shrine.

However, the statue could not be installed as the organisers, Dalit Makkal Munnani, an NGO, had not obtained necessary permission from the district authorities for importing the statue and displaying it for public view.

Dalit Makkal Munnani founder 'Thangavayal' Vanidasan told UNI that the Tiruvallur District Collectorate had been moved to get necessary sanction for the installation of the statue on the next full moon as Lord Buddha was born on 'pournami.' A small shrine in Tiruttani had been planned to spread the preachings of Lord Buddha in the country of his birth, he added.

UNI