The 13th Sakyadhita International Conference on Buddhist Women will be held in Vaishali (Bihar) India, January 5-12, 2013.

Tara Dance

A Conference Workshop: The Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara

Lead by Prema Desara. The Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara is based on a simple sadhana (practice). The dance has been taught all over the world, including to two groups of Tibetan nuns. During the 13th Sakyadhita conference, Prema Desara and some of her senior students will teach the dance and then participants will offer the dance to the community at the end of the conference. Learn more about the Tara Dance and get previews of conference presentations on the Events Page.

Call for Papers

Vaishali, located near Patna, the capital of the Indian state of Bihar, possesses an incredibly rich past in the history of Buddhism. Vaishali is one of The Eight Great Places that were either identified specifically by the Buddha (Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kusinara) or are places where a certain miraculous event is reported to have occurred. Sravasti was the Place of the Twin Miracle, and also the place where the Buddha spent the largest amount of time, being a major city in ancient India. Rajgir, another major city in India, was the Place of the subduing of Nalagiri, the angry elephant, through friendliness. Sankasia was the Place of the descending to earth from Tusita heaven (after a stay of 3 months teaching his mother the Abhidhamma). And Vaishali was the Place of receiving an offering of honey from a monkey. Vaishali was the capital of the Vajjian Republic of ancient India.

For Buddhist women, Vaishali is twice notable. First Lord Buddha ordained the first woman, his stepmother and aunt, Mahaprajapati, at Vaishali. Second he delivered his last sermon at Vaishali and announced his Parinirvana there. Vaishali was also the venue for the second Buddhist Council a hundred years after his demise.

There is additional information about Vaishali and its Buddhist history on the Wikipedia page.

Notable Buddhist sites in Vaiśālī

Images of 3 notable Buddhist sites in Vaishali.

Reaching Bihar

Patna, the capital city of Bihar, is linked by Indian Airlines with important cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Lucknow and Ranchi. Air Deccan and Sahara Air also connect Patna with various cities in India. Regular bus services connect the city of Patna with Ranchi and Siliguri. There is also inter-state bus service available for commuting within the state. The bus stand is located at Mithapur. The various means of local transport include cars, auto rickshaw and rickshaws. Train services connect Patna with locations like Kolkata, Delhi, Ranchi and Varanasi as well as other important Indian cities and towns.

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Return to this page in the coming months for updates and Conference details.

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