On 4 December 2025, members of the Chakma Mahayana Luri community from India’s Tripura state undertook a Buddhist pilgrimage. Among the participants was Śrīmat Āryānanda Luri, a senior figure within the Luri tradition, along with Luri practitioners and followers associated with the Durgachhara Mahayana Gyanodaya Changga Buddhist Monastery.

 

The main aim of the journey was to better understand Buddhist traditions, especially Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, by learning directly about sacred texts, monastic rules, and the daily religious life of Buddhist monks.

 

This pilgrimage was not only a religious visit. It was also a conscious effort by the Luri community to reconnect with their Mahayana heritage and to better understand their own religious identity in the wider Buddhist world.

 

Members of the Mahayana Luri community identify themselves as Mahayana Buddhists. They follow an ancient religious text known as “Agar Tara.” Today, the language of this text is difficult to understand and has not yet been formally translated. However, this does not weaken the Luri tradition. Instead, it shows that their faith is part of an old, oral, and community-based Mahayana tradition that has survived through rituals, ethics, compassion, and everyday practice.

 

In its values, moral outlook, and emphasis on compassion, the Chakma Mahayana Luri tradition closely aligns with the core teachings of Mahayana Buddhism. For this reason, one of the key goals of the pilgrimage was to learn directly about Mahayana–Vajrayana practices followed by Tibetan Buddhist communities, without rejecting their own tradition, but by placing it in dialogue with the wider Buddhist world.

 

As part of the journey, the delegation visited the Lahgon Jangchub Choeling Monastery in the Tezu district of Arunachal Pradesh. There, they held discussions with monks and explored possibilities for future religious and cultural cooperation.

 

The group then travelled to Bodh Gaya, the most sacred site in Buddhism. They visited Vajrasana, where Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment, as well as the seven sacred sites associated with his life. They also visited the Niranjana River (now the Phalgu River), climbed Griddhakuta Hill in Rajgir, where the Buddha gave important teachings, and later visited Nalanda Mahavihara and the Xuanzang Memorial Hall.

 

The importance of this pilgrimage becomes clearer when viewed through the history of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Historical records and local memory suggest that before the time of Chakma Queen Kalindi, Mahayana Buddhism was the main religious tradition among the Chakma people. Their daily religious life, moral values, and rituals were shaped by Mahayana beliefs.

 

In 1864, Queen Kalindi invited the Arakanese monk Sangharaja Saramedha Mahasthavira from present-day Myanmar to introduce Theravada monastic discipline in the region. While this reform helped build organised monasteries and formal education, it also led to a gradual decline in the social influence of the older Mahayana (locally known as Luri) tradition.

 

Even today, many people in India and Bangladesh believe that Mahayana Buddhism is the original and distinct religious identity of the Chakma people. From this perspective, being Chakma has historically meant being Mahayana not only as a belief system, but as a cultural inheritance.

 

In the present, as the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Chakma community rethinks their cultural and religious identity, the Mahayana Luri pilgrimage represents a respectful return to history. It shows that Buddhism in the hills was never limited to a single path, but developed through multiple traditions over time.

 

Many believe that if Mahayana Chakma Luris can be connected with Mahayana Buddhist communities in countries such as China, Japan, Vietnam, and others, the Luri tradition itself will grow stronger. Such connections could bring learning, recognition, cultural exchange, and spiritual confidence, helping the Chakma Luri community to thrive while remaining rooted in its own heritage.