By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-12-29 04:19:18 | Updated at 2024-12-30 19:39:40
1 day ago
This article was first published on December 30, 1993.
Hong Kong gained its place in the atlas of religion yesterday when a crowd of thousands watched as monks from 13 countries invited Buddha to bless his giant statue at Po Lin Monastery on Lantau.
At the height of the two-hour ceremony, a procession of 100 monks faced the 24-metre-high effigy.
As a bell rang out, 13 of the most eminent local and overseas monks placed one of the holiest relics in Buddhism - said to be a piece of Buddha’s body left from His cremation 2,500 years ago - on an altar.
The chanting and prayers were led by the president of the Hong Kong Buddhist Association, the Venerable Kok Kwong.
Among the 10,000 who made their way to the mountaintop were Governor Chris Patten, director of the Hong Kong branch of Xinhua (the New China News Agency) Zhou Nan, president of the Buddhist Association of China Zhao Pu-chu, and Canto-pop star Alan Tam Wing-lun.
