Buddhist Culture and Art Fest 2007 (Part 1)

It was a busy week at Malaysia International Exhibition & Convention Centre (MIECC) situated just beside the Mines Resort City, Malaysia. There were lots of participants which consists of both local and foreign Buddhist and Buddhism Enthusiasts. It is also one of the days were MIECC is packed with people.

The crowds main intention was to attend Buddhist Culture and Art Fest, 2007. This event lasted for 5 days in a row, 6th - 10th June, 2007. It was a fest that Malaysian Buddhist world could be proud of as different branches of Buddhism came together for the first time in Malaysian history to bring the largest Buddhist fest (in Malaysia) to life.

As I was from a Buddhist family, automatically it just drew my attention. To think back that I've been there for 4 out of the 5 days. It sometimes surprises myself, but there were no regrets as it was a great experience for me and my family.

As far as I know, there were at least 4 different cultured Buddhism during the fest, Malaysian, Taiwanese, Sri Lanka, and Tibetian. But most of my time was spend at the Tibetian section as my uncle was a member for one of the Tibetian Buddhist society in Malaysia. It was amazing as it was my first time to actually see a Sand Mandala create and destroyed in that fair.


As the sand of a Sand Mandala is said to aid one to stay healthy; me and my family just didn't want to let this opportunity go, so we each grabbed a spoonful of the sand as it was given to the public. During my time spent there, I got to meet and received blessings from Dalai Lama's Cousin who is now a Rinpoche in the United States. I've also received a pendant from him. Kind of lucky for me.

Other great experiences in this fest were Sutras copying activities, exhibitions, prayers etc. More will be mentioned in part 2.