Buddhist monks on nationwide Walk for Peace approach Columbia, arrive this week
A group of Buddhist monks were approaching the Columbia area on Thursday as they cross South Carolina on foot across South Carolina, the latest leg of a cross-country they plan to finish in the nation’s capital.
The Walk for Peace said on its Facebook page Monday that the group of two dozen monks would arrive in Columbia on or around Saturday, Jan. 10.
The monks and their rescue dog Aloka crossed the Savannah River on Tuesday from Georgia and entered McCormick County. They bedded down Tuesday night on the grounds of the county EMS headquarters before making their way toward Edgefield. According to a live online map of the journey, the group was leaving from a small country church along U.S. 378 and heading into Saluda by midday Thursday.
The Walk for Peace has generated increasing interest on social media since the latest update to the monks’ itinerary last Friday added a stop in Columbia to their months-long walking trek across the South. The caravan is expected to walk through the Batesburg-Leesville area and Lexington through the day Friday on their way to Columbia, before the march turns north and leaves the Palmetto State by passing through Rock Hill.
The monks are on a 2,300-mile march from their home Huong Dao Temple in Forth Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., passing through eight states and hitting seven capital cities, including Columbia, although the tentative route is unclear what specific sites the monks might go through along the way. The march started on Oct. 26 and is expected to take 120 days to reach the nation’s capital.
One of the monks told CBS News the walk is meant to promote “peace, loving kindness and compassion to all people.”
The walk has continued even after an incident that occurred before the group had even left Texas. A vehicle escorting the group was struck from behind by a truck while driving near Houston, injuring two of the monks. The more seriously injured of the two had to leave the march, but he reunited with the group in Georgia on the last day of 2025.
The Walk for Peace has garnered attention, and occasional protests from Christian groups, wherever they have gone. Large crowds have gathered to meet the travelers when they reach pre-determined rest sites, and the monks’ visit to Columbia is sure to do the same, although a specific route and stopping points have not been announced Thursday.
Polling shows there are more than 1 million Buddhists in the United States, the majority of them Asian American but including a sizable number of Western converts. Today, there are thousands of organized Buddhist temples across the country.
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