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| Tour Highlights |
| Travel with us to Sri Lanka, Northern India, and Nepal, to powerful Buddhist shrines and sacred places so steeped in religious atmosphere that it seems you can still hear a distant echo of chanting monks of an ancient time. Explore the origins of Buddhism and the practices and sacred sites of two uniquely rich cultures. Sri Lankans follow the Theravada, the way of the elders, and take pride in the fact that Buddhism has been at the very center of their being for more than 2,200 years. Here we travel to the eternal city of Anuranhadpura, and join the throng of worshipers to meditate before the sacred Bo Tree, grown from a sapling of the original. The ruins here and in the medieval capital, Polonnaruwa, strongly bespeak Buddhism’s central importance, as does the hill town of Kandy and its Temple of the Tooth, where pilgrims arrive by the thousands, to be in the presence of this precious relic. In Nepal, the Tibetan or Mahayana form of Buddhism has been highly developed for centuries, as manifested in the great temple-palaces of the Kathmandu Valley, and in the acknowledgement of the Dalai Lama as their leading figure -- whose hometown in Dharamsala, India can be explored as a fascinating optional extension to our main tour. Whatever the culture, all Buddhism at its essence derives from a universal message of peace and compassion -- a message first preached from the Deer Park in Sarnath, and the inspiration for this unique tour. |
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