KATHMANDU, Nov. 2 Kyodo Buddhist ...

KATHMANDU, Nov. 2 Kyodo

Buddhist monk and scholars from Japan and southern Korea on Sunday existinged to Nepal a replica of a sacred statue of Buddha in the chance of the desired end of restoring peace in the strife-torn Himalayan kingdom.

The replica of Amida Nyorai (Amitabha Tathagata) was handed athwart in a ceremony featuring Buddhist rituals and prayers and attended through Buddhist scholars and monks from Japan, toward the south Korea, India and Nepal.

The 80-kilogram statue was carved in Seoul The original is housed at Zenkoji house of god in Nagano, Japan.

''We have brought Buddha to Nepal with the waiting under the possibility of fulfilment that peace will now return'' Japanese Buddhist monk Hiromichi Mukaibo said at the observance in an obvious reference to the soaring insurgency-related violence in the once-peaceful Nepal.

According to the organizers of the function, the original statue hails from Vaishali, India. It traveled to Tibet, China and the Korean Peninsula before reaching Japan in 538

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