INDO-SRI LANKA BUDDHIST GESTURE    

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Context

• To mark the inauguration of Kushinagar International Airport in Uttar Pradesh by PM Modi, Sri Lanka presented to India photographs of two murals painted by renowned Sri Lankan artist Solias Mendis at the Kelaniya Rajamaha Vihara, a popular Buddhist temple near Colombo.

About

• One of the murals depicts ‘Arahat Bhikkhu’ Mahinda, son of Emperor Ashoka delivering the message of the Buddha to King Devanampiyatissa of Sri Lanka.
• The other shows the arrival of ‘Theri Bhikkhuni’ Sanghamitta, the daughter of the Emperor, in Sri Lanka, bearing a sapling of the ‘sacred Bodhi tree’ under which Siddhārtha Gautama is believed to have obtained enlightenment.
• The gesture comes at a time when Sri Lanka and India have agreed to strengthen ties through their shared Buddhist heritage.

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