(Clearwisdom.net) On October 7, 2008, hundreds of thousands of Buddhists from around the world and hundreds of lamas gathered in central India to celebrate the revival of Buddhism. The visitors crowded the streets of Mysore and Nagpur. On October 9, the Falun Dafa Divine Land Marching Band Asia-Pacific Division was invited to perform in front of a Buddhist pagoda in Nagpur. The audience cheered the band's performance and some of them yelled, "Falun Dafa is good!" The event drew the attention of many media outlets and was on many news reports.
News reports on the Falun Dafa Divine Land Marching Band's performance in India from October 6 to 10, 2008
To ensure that the performance of the Divine Land Marching Band went smoothly, many audience members held hands and formed a line to separate the crowd from the band. People from India enjoyed the performance and the music and followed the band as they marched forward. Their devotion to Buddhism shown in their faces.
On October 8 at the ceremony celebrating the revival of Buddhism, the band and the local Falun Dafa Waist Drum Team performed music and demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises. When a representative of the Divine Land Marching Band asked the tens of thousands Buddhists in front of the stage whether they liked Falun Dafa and wanted to practice it, many of them answered enthusiastically, "Yes!"
On October 6, as the band members in Taiwan got on the plane headed for Bengaluru Airport in India, the weather was chilly and rainy. However, the band members had confidence that on the day of performance, it would be sunny and warm. During their stay in India it was warm and sunny.
Mr. Verkey, Principal of the Vidya Jyothi English School, one of the major sponsors of the celebration, pointed out that if a school wants to do well educating the students, it just needs to teach Truth-Compassion-Forbearance.
Mr. Verkey has so far invited principals and students from over 80 schools to practice Falun Gong. The principal has listed the English version of Lunyu (the preface of Zhuan Falun] in the students' English curriculum and have students do the Falun Gong exercises instead of having physical education class. He also provided two classrooms for students who want to study Zhuan Falun. Principal Verkey also said that construction of the first Minghui School he founded will be completed next year. He wants to spread the teachings of Falun Dafa to people in India.
The 80 band members come from Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia. The band has been established for three years and has performed in many countries. In the evening on October 7, they performed in front of the splendid ancient Mysore Palace. The music of "Falun Dafa Is Good" won praise from the audience. The Minister of Defense and the Mayor of Mysore were in the audience.
The band was invited to perform in an amusement park in Mysore. The music of Falun Dafa was heard and many visitors learned about Falun Dafa.
It is worth noting that Napur is the largest city in central India, with a population of over three million. It is especially ideal for reaching many people as it is situated at the cross-roads of India's North-South and East-West routes by road, rail and air.
