Spiritual journey: Buddhist monks walking around a temple complex. — Reuters
THIRTY-TWO Buddhist monks have finally arrived in Magelang, Central Java, home of the famous Borobudur temple, where they plan to join ceremonies to celebrate Waisak that marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha, on Sunday.
The group began their long-distance pilgrimage, also known as thudong, at the end of March from Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand, walking for 10 days to Malaysia and then for 29 days to Singapore.
They crossed the Singapore Strait to Batam, Riau Islands, on May 8.
On the next day, they travelled by plane to Jakarta and walked to the Borobudur temple. Blasted by the equatorial heat and exhaustion, of 54 who started the journey, 32 remained at the final leg of the pilgrimage, which covered around 2,600km.
Twenty-seven monks of the group are Thailand natives, four are Malaysians and one is Indonesian. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
