India to organise First-ever Global Buddhist Conference

• 16 Sep 2021

From 19^th to 20^th November 2021, India will organise the first-ever Global Buddhist Conference that will become an annual feature.

• It will be held in Nalanda, Bihar in the campus of the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara.
• The event is being planned by Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).

Aim of this Conference

• This is an academic conference to make India a center of Buddhism, not about tourism.
• It is about making center for Buddhist activities, like academics, cultural, seminars, people traveling for festival - Buddha Purnima, Vesak. ICCR is also going to have a manuscript repository.

New Award for Promotion of Buddhism

• ICCR has announced an award for the promotion of Buddhist studies which will be given on 21st November in Delhi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The award carries a cash reward of $20,000 (around Rs 14.7 lakh), a plaque, and a gold-plated medallion.

Four Regional Conferences before Main Conference

• In the run-up to the conference, four regional conferences in India - Telangana, Saranath, Gangtok and Dharamshala and abroad - in Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Cambodia will be organised. Reports of these regional conferences will be presented at the Global Buddhist Conference.