Buddhist spiritual leader's body cremated tomorrow

JAKARTA (JP): The body of the Indonesian Buddhist Council (Walubi) chairman, Bhikkhu Girirakkhito Mahathera, arrived in Denpasar yesterday to be cremated tomorrow in his home town of Buleleng.

The Bhikkhu died of illness in Jakarta on Jan. 5. His body was laid at Jakarta's Buddha Metta Arama temple before it was flown to Bali.

He is survived by his wife Made Kerti and five children.

Born in the Buleleng village of Banjar on Jan. 12, 1927, and named Ida Bagus Giri, Mahathera was the son of a Balinese aristocratic family.

He quit the material world in 1961 to deepen his mastery of spirituality, leaving behind his fifth baby. He built the famous Brahmavihara Arama temple in Banjar in 1970 after local Buddhists appointed him Samanera (spiritual leader).

Many national and international religious bodies awarded him for his work.

His body was flown to Bali in an Air Force plane. Thousands of mourners gathered at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar to pay their last respect for the Buddhist leader.

A meticulously decorated car carried the body toward Buleleng, about 115 kilometers northwest of Denpasar, where it will be cremated at the Brahmavihara Arama Buddhist temple.

Girirakkhito Mahathera was vice president of the World Buddhist Sangha Council from 1985 to 1989. He chaired Walubi twice, from 1986 to 1992 and from 1992 until he died.

Buddhists acclaimed him for his skill in unifying Buddhists across Indonesia. (03)