Prez pays floral tribute to Buddhist monk

LUCKNOW: President Ram Nath Kovind, who was in Lucknow for the seventh convocation ceremony of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, paid floral tributes to Buddhist monk Bhante Pragyanand at Baudh Vihar on Friday morning.

Pragyanand was among the seven priests who had initiated Babasaheb Bhimrao Rao Ambedkar into Buddhism on October 14, 1956, in Nagpur.

The 90-year-old priest passed away on November 30 at Lucknow’s King George Medical University after prolonged illness. His mortal remains are at Baudh Vihar, Risaldar Park.

“The monk who initiated Ambedkar to Buddhism, Bhante Pragyanand lived in Lucknow. He passed away on November 30. Today I paid my tribute to the mortal remains Pragyanand before coming to convocation,” said Kovind later at the convocation function.

Accompanied by his wife Savita, Kovind also interacted with members of the Baudh Vihar. Governor Ram Naik, chief minister Yogi Adityanath, cabinet min- ister Swami Prasad Maurya and Lalji Nirmal, President of Ambedkar Mahasabha, were also present on the occasion.

The monk will be cremated at China Baudh Vihar, Shravasti, on December 17 with full state honours.

On Saturday (December 15), mortal remains on the monk will be taken in a vehicular procession to the Ambedkar Mahasabha’s office, Vidhan Sabha Marg, where a condolence meeting will be organised.

From there, the procession will leave for Babasaheb’s statue installed at the Hazratganj crossing, where floral tributes will be paid to father of the Indian constitution.

The last stopover of the procession will be at Ambedkar Smarak, Gomti Nagar. From there it will proceed for Shravasti district by road.

It was at Shravasti that Lord Buddha is supposed to spent considerable time.

“Bhante Pragyanand will be cremated at China Baudh Vihar in Shravasti on Sunday at around 1pm with full state honours,” said Lalji Nirmal.

“Bhante Pragyanand had come to the city at the age of 13 and was the senior most priest at Baudh Vihar,” Nirmal added.

After the monk’s demise, VVIPs and other dignitaries have visited Baudh Vihar to pay floral tributes to the monk.

This is the second visit of President to the state capital after taking over the office of President of India in July this year.

THE MONK WILL BE CREMATED AT CHINA BAUDH VIHAR, SHRAVASTI, ON DECEMBER 17 WITH FULL STATE HONOURS