Myanmar opened a World Buddhist Summit Thursday with some 1,500 people attending, despite calls for a boycott over the country's detention of some 300 monks.
Monks and government officials, including the premiers of Thailand and Laos, were among those attending the ceremonial ringing of 108 bells in Yangon's ornate Mahapasana Cave, built in an artificial mountain.
The event's main sponsor had been former Premier Khin Nyunt, who was ousted in October.
Instead the new premier, Lieutenant General Soe Win, spoke at the conference, saying Buddhist teachings could help prevent such things as "arms rivalry, the gap between rich and poor and bullying of the weak by the strong," Channel NewsAsia reported.
About 85 percent of Myanmar's 50 million people are Buddhist. The government hopes to promote religious tourism to the "Land of Pagodas."
Japan's Nenbutsushu sect, which has sponsored the summit every two years in a Buddhist nation, withdrew its support when Khin Nyunt was detained for alleged corruption.
The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners called for a boycott of the conference because of the continued detention of an estimated 300 monks. Myanmar's outlawed Young Monks' Association also supported the boycott.