The festival is being organised by Tibet House in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Culture and India Habitat Centre. During the inauguration of the festival at Buddha Jayanti Park, Dalai Lama will speak on the "Eight-fold Noble Path''.

The inauguration will also include a spectacular "Golden Procession" of 108 monks and nuns, followed by sacred chanting by various groups participating in the festival.

The festival will illustrate how Buddhist culture in Asia developed varied forms of ritual, dance and music through the centuries.

As such people will get to witness the rich cultural diversity of Buddhism in Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Nepal, Thailand, Mongolia and Tibet.

Highlights of the festival will be performance of ritual dances from the participating countries and sacred Buddhist chanting in languages ranging from Pali and Sanskrit to Tibetan, Korean and Mongolian among others.