Introduction

The International Shravasti Cultural Festival 2020 (ShravastiFest2020)

• In support of World Peace and UN's International day for Tolerance.

20 years ago, we organized a monumental event at National Stadium Bukit Jalil , Kuala Lumpur – whereby, for the first time, the chief monks of three main sects of Buddhism harmoniously hosted the Grand Blessing Ceremony for Millennium 2000. The event attracted approximately 50,000 local and foreign participants and raised RM380,000 to fund the humanitarian programs run by six legitimate non-profit organizations. We also successfully created a Guinness World Record by building the world’s largest Bean Art Collage (26.6m x 31.7m, 12 tonnes of beans) to promote world peace in conjunction with the event.

With the support and encouragement from the various communities, we are enthusiastically looking forward to organizing another event of comparable context and scale on the 20th anniversary of the last event. This event is auspiciously named The International Shravasti Cultural Festival 2020 or ShravastiFest2020, and it is going to be held on 20th-22nd November, 2020 at National Stadium Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur, the same venue that hosted its ground-breaking predecessor.

Why is the event named after Shravasti? Primarily, Sharavasti is of great significance in Buddhist history. The Lord Buddha spent twenty-five rainy seasons in Shravasti after He attained enlightenment. Woodward states that 871 suttras were preached in Shravasti: 844 in Jetavana, 23 in the Pubbarama, and four in the suburbs of Shravasti. It is the place where Buddha lived the longest amount of time, and it is the place where he gave the largest amount of discourses and instructions.

It’s widely known that Buddhism is a religion in which love and compassion are regarded as the most important fundamental teaching of Lord Buddha. None of these are uniquely Buddhist; every culture and religion, can trace their ethical teachings to the very same root: love and kindness. Learning the ways of loving kindness does not require one to become a Buddhist. It only requires a willingness to develop innate capacities and be a good human who brings harmony to the world.

This is a very important event in Malaysia - a multi–ethnic, multicultural, and multilingual society, as it fosters sharing, harmony and peace besides encouraging the youth to be understanding and to do good. This event will not only provide a sharing platform for delegations from different countries but also different schools in religion. It will boost peaceful co-existence and better understanding among practitioners of various religious beliefs. Achieving a harmonious living requires a global level of understanding that all religions are mutually acceptable in terms of their basic tenets as well as manifestations in human behaviour (to be good and to do good) along with all ramifications of traditions and their progression in contemporary life.

ShravastiFest2020 is a non-profit and admission free event. We are expecting more than 50,000 participants from 16 countries or more to take part in this festival.

Programs

Date Programs Venue
20th Nov, 2020 1) An inter-faith forum: “Religion’s Roles, Relevance and Activities in Promoting Environmental Sustainability” Grand Ballroom, New World Hotel, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
21st Nov, 2020 2) The World Indigenous Performing Arts Festival 2020 (WIPAF2020)
3) The Guinness World Record Attempt
– the making of The World’s Largest Mandala, in support of World Peace and UN's International day for Tolerance.
4) ROLFnation - The International Youth Assembly 2020
National Stadium Bukit Jalil , Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
22nd Nov, 2020 5) The Grand Shravasti Blessing Ceremony for World Peace 2020 (GSBC2020)
6) ROLFnation - The International Youth Assembly 2020
National Stadium Bukit Jalil , Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Note:

Program 1 is inter-faith, Program 3 & 6 are for youths, Program 2,3,4 & 6 are open to all races, religions and nationalities, and Program 5 is for non-Muslims only.

© Copyright 2019 - Shravastifest2020