Bhikkhu Pannakara, who led the 2,300-mile Walk for Peace from Fort Worth to Washington, received the Pali title Aggasanticariko, foremost peace walker, from the Theravada Buddhist Academy in Kathmandu on October 9, 2026.
Tagged: Peace Walks Buddhist Theravada
What happened
On October 9, 2026, in Kathmandu, Nepal, the Theravada Buddhist Academy conferred the Pali honorific Aggasanticariko on Bhikkhu Pannakara, the monk who led the Walk for Peace across the United States. The title means foremost peace walker. At the same ceremony Lumbini Buddhist University, with which the Academy is affiliated, named him an Honorary Professor.
The details
The Walk for Peace set out from Fort Worth, Texas, on October 26, 2025, and reached Washington, D.C., on February 10, 2026: about 2,300 miles in 108 days, walked by a group of Theravada monks to share peace, compassion, and nonviolence with the communities along the route. Pannakara was visiting Nepal with a twenty-member team in connection with humanitarian flood relief when the honour was conferred at a ceremony at Buddha Hall in Jawalakhel, Lalitpur. The felicitation certificate honours his dedication, perseverance, and commitment to the Dhamma.
Why it is recorded here
The Walk for Peace was the most widely followed act of Buddhist witness in the United States in recent years, and its recognition in Nepal joins the American walk to the Buddhist heartlands of Asia. This post records the honour as Elevate Buddhist Journal reported it; the source link on this page leads to the report.
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Impact Today
The Peace Walk Comes Home to the National Mall, Sitting Still
Several hundred people sat in meditation for an hour on the National Mall on September 20, 2026, with the leader of the Walk for Peace. The walk that crossed the country on foot now gathers people by sitting still.