Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksha Launches Peace Pad Yatra

NEW DELHI and COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, March 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Move by Live to Love and the Gyalwang Drukpa to further peace in Sri Lanka

In a move to foster peace across the region, Live to Love and the Gyalwang Drukpa organised a Peace Pad Yatra in Sri Lanka with Mahinda Rajapaksha, President of Sri Lanka. The Peace Pad Yatra aims to encourage peace and cooperation among the government, civil society, charities and the citizens of Sri Lanka. The Gyalwang Drukpa and an entourage of approximately 500 monks, nuns and general participants from India, Nepal, Bhutan, and 16 other countries apart from Sri Lanka are undertaking the Pad Yatra that also saw the participation of the President and Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksha.

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130316/601666-a )

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130316/601666-b )

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130316/601666-c )

Spearheaded by Live to Love, a global humanitarian initiative, the Peace Pad Yatra or Foot Journey in Sri Lanka enjoys the full-fledged support of the organising committee comprising Presidential Secretariat, National Youth Services Council (NYSC), Tharunyata Hetak, and Youth Social Federation. The Pad Yatra traverses from south to north, covering a distance of about 500 kilometres and visiting holy sites like Sri Pada, Kandy, Matale, Dambulla, Sigiriya, Polannaruwa, and Anuradhapura before concluding at Jaffna in the north of Sri Lanka on 6^th April 2013.

The Gyalwang Drukpa, a recipient of the United Nations Millennium Develop Goals Honour and of the NDTV-Toyota Green Hero Award in India, is leading the Pad Yatra which aims to promote peace and harmony, as well as an eco-friendly living. The Gyalwang Drukpa stated, "In order to promote peace, we must first find peace within ourselves. In order to promote an eco-friendly way of living, we must first connect ourselves with nature. We live in a fast-moving world that focuses too much on material success, disconnected with our own environment. I feel that in modern times, a Pad Yatra or "Foot Journey" is one of the most effective methods to restore the ecological balance and the peaceful state of mind, through reconnecting with our experiential understanding of nature."

Arjun Pandey, Head of Live to Love India said, "After years of strife, peace is now settling in the region. The Pad Yatra is our tribune to the peace loving nation and its people and to humanity around the world."

Pad Yatra weblink is http://www.walking.drukpa.com

FaceBook Pad Yatra page is http://www.facebook.com/LiveToLoveInternational

For further information:
Shreeya Roy
communications@drukpa.com
+91-9350335761

SOURCE Live to Love