LUCKNOW: President Ram Nath Kovind paid floral tributes to Buddhist monk Bhante Pragyanand, who died at the age of on November 30 at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) here after prolonged illness.
His body has been kept at Buddha Vihar in Risaldar Park where he stayed since the time he came to India from Sri Lanka in 1942.
Pragyanand was among the seven bhiksus who gave ‘dhamma deeksha’ to Dr B R Ambedkar on October 14, 1956 in Nagpur. Ambedkar visited him twice at Buddha Vihar in Lucknow.
On arrival at Lucknow’s Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport, President Kovind went straight to Buddha Vihar to pay homage to Pragyanand. He was accompanied by UP Governor Ram Naik.
After a brief stay at Buddha Vihar the President proceeded to Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University to be the chief guest at the convocation ceremony. (AGENCIES)
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