托鉢に僧侶３万人、横領疑惑のタイ寺院も共催　ミャンマー

【マンダレーＡＦＰ＝時事】ミャンマー中部マンダレーで8日、大規模な托鉢（たくはつ）が行われ、肌寒い早朝に僧侶3万人が集結した。横領疑惑の渦中にあったタイの巨大寺院もこの行事を共催した。（写真はミャンマー・マンダレーのチャンミャサジ空港で行われた托鉢に参加する僧侶たち。タンマガーイ基金提供）
　信仰の中心地であるマンダレーに、ミャンマーとタイ出身の大勢の僧侶が集結。複数国から高位の宗教関係者も加わり、共に施しを得た。
　今回が３度目の開催となり、この種の行事としては２０１５年以降で最大規模。２０１７年の横領疑惑からの立ち直りを模索する、タイのタンマガーイ寺院の共催で行われた。
　この疑惑では、タンマガーイ寺院のルァンポー・タンマチャヨー師が３３００万ドル（約３６億円）の横領を共謀し、モナコ国土面積の２倍相当に及ぶ４平方キロの広大な寺院に身を潜めているとされていた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/12/10-08:24）

Thirty-thousand monks assembled in the early morning chill in Myanmar on Sunday for a spectacular alms-giving event, partly organised by a controversial mega-temple under scrutiny across the border in Thailand.
With many barefoot, Buddhist monks from Myanmar and Thailand and senior religious officials from a dozen countries collected alms next to an airport in the central city of Mandalay, that is also a heartland of the faith.
As the sun rose over the ancient town, a sea of saffron and maroon-robed monks assembled in an area the size of a football field.
They meditated, prayed and collected alms in an event meant to tighten the relationship of monks and Buddhists between (the) two countries and to strengthen the monkhood in the region, according to a statement.
I hope we can continue to hold bigger events in the coming years, said U Thu Nanda, a 24-year-old Burmese monk.
The event was the third and largest of its kind since 2015 and comes as one of the organisers, the Thailand-based Dhammakaya foundation, attempts to bounce back from an embezzlement scandal more than two years ago.
The Dhammakaya temple's massive compound in northern Bangkok was under siege for two weeks in early 2017 as thousands of officers try to arrest the sect's spiritual leader.
Phra Dhammachayowho was accused of colluding in a $33 million embezzlement scheme and was believed to be hiding somewhere on the temple's sprawling 1,000 acre grounds, an area twice the size of Monaco.
He was never found but the temple is still operational.
This year it also organized two large alms-giving events in Thailand in September and October attended by 10,000 monks to solicit donations for flood victims.