Mysore, July 7, 2013: The early morning blasts that rocked the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, in Bihar, have shocked the Tibetan community at Bylakuppe, about 75 km from Mysore.

The news of the multiple blasts came close on the heels of the 78th birthday celebrations of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama celebrated on Saturday.

Lobsang Dorjee, Advisor, Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC) told The Hindu over phone that the blasts were really unfortunate and totally uncalled for.

“Mahabodhi Temple is a religious place. Such an incident in a religious and sacred place is really unfortunate. We cannot visualise how such violence can take place at such a sacred place. Like all Buddhists we believe in peace and non-violence and this incident was really uncalled for. We hope that better sense will prevail as such things will not benefit anybody”, said Mr. Dorjee.

Similar views were expressed by Janyal Lhakyap, president, RTYC. “We heard the news in the morning and it was really shocking. All of us are shocked. Buddha is a universal symbol of compassion and non-violence and it is ironic and tragic that violence has taken place at a site which is so closely associated with the Buddha and held sacred by all”, Mr. Lhakyap added.

Over 40,000 Tibetans have settled in Bylakuppe. The place has many Buddhist monasteries, where monks undergo rigorous courses related to different Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

Source: The Hindu, DT. July 7, 2013.