As you read this, a group of 35 people is setting off from Namobuddha on a peace walk that will end 25 days and cover more than 500 km later in Lumbini. The occasion is the completion and inaugural ceremony of the Vietnam temple at the birthplace of Buddha but the walkers' goal is much larger: to help bring peace to this troubled land.

The first such walk was held in 2001 to mark the establishment of the Japanese Shanti Stupa in Lumbini. Beginning from Namobuddha, where the Buddha in an earlier life fed himself to a hungry tigress and her cubs, the participants will walk through Banepa, Patan, Bouddha, Swayambhu, Balambu, Naubise, Baireni, Richoktar, Kurintar, Abukhaireni, Dumre, Damauli, Dulegauda, Pokhara, Phedikhola, Rangkhola, Waling, Galyang Bhanjyang, Arya Bhanjyang, Tansen, Kerabari, Butwal, Bhairahawa before arriving in Lumbini.

The 35 walkers will include monks, nuns and lamas from the three different sects of Buddhism-Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana- representatives of other faiths and common folk.

"It is ironic that the land where the Buddha-who taught the world the middle path of peace-was born, is today being torn apart by violence. The main objective of this walk is to promote peace and harmony in society," says 22-year-old Bikhhu Tapassi Dhamma who joined the Sangha at the age of 12 and was educated in the path of the dharma in Sri Lanka. He was the moving force behind the restoration of the Ashoka Charumati Stupa in Chabahil, built by Emperor Ashoka in the name of his daughter Charumati. Tapassi Dhamma is also assistant general secretary of the World Buddhist Sangha Youth, an association of young Buddhist monks worldwide.

So if you see the peace walk passing by, wave. Or better yet, join in.

Alok Tumbahangphey