Buddhists congregate virtually as Covid-19 dampens the festive spirit of Buddha Poornima

May 07, 2020

New Delhi, May 07 (ANI): Buddhists from across the world prayed for the victims of Coronavirus contagion and honoured the medical professionals as they virtually joined the Buddha Poornima celebrations & global prayer week. The International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) in association with Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee held a virtual online celebration of the festival that observes the birth, enlightenment and death of Lord Gautam Buddha. An otherwise grand event, the pomp was missing this year and the celebrations were limited to prayers and recitation of Buddha teachings in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who also joined the celebrations virtually urged people to follow the teachings of Lord Buddha and unite in the fight against the virus. Covid-19, a disease allegedly originated in a lab in China’s Wuhan city has affected over 3.8 million people across the world, with over 265,000 fatalities till today. With an anti-disease vaccine still not in sight, hundreds of thousands of others are projected to die in the coming months. The countries have been working at war-footing but have achieved little success in containing the spread of the pandemic.