Source: Telegraph of India
BODHGAYA, INDIA, March 12, 2001: The 17th Karmapa, the Buddhist leader who had visited the sanctum sanctorum of the Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya with shoes on, was compelled to make a second trip to the same place barefoot to appease the sensibilities of some monks here. This time before entering shrine, he stopped near the checkpost of the Temple Management Committee where he took off his shoes to walk silently towards the temple. “The Karmapa has come here with a gesture of penance. He meditated in front of the seat of Buddha’s enlightenment,” said one of his associates. On his arrival on March 6 in Bodhgaya, where Buddha achieved enlightenment, the Karmapa paid his first visit to Vajrasan in Mahabodhi temple, the inner shrine of Buddhists, but with his shoes on. After the Karmapa’s gesture today, the temple’s orthodox monks appeared mellow.