A similar turnout followed the monks to Capitol Hill<\/a> on Wednesday for their peace ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial.<\/p>\n Their homecoming walk will begin at Eastover Park, at 4300 Ramey Ave., Saturday morning and consist of a roughly mile-long walk to the temple in the Historic Stop Six neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n Their homecoming walk will begin at Eastover Park, at 4300 Ramey Ave., Saturday morning and consist of a roughly mile-long walk to the temple in the Historic Stop Six neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n People began lining up along the park Ramey Avenue before sunrise awaiting their arrival.<\/p>\n By 8 a.m., dozens were celebrating in the park as some passed out stickers commemorating the monks and Aloka.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fort Worth resident Lena Luangraj, 58, arrived at the park with eight friends from work who share her Buddhist faith. The group carried bouquets of flowers to hand to the monks during their walk home.\u00a0<\/p>\n Luangraj has followed the monks\u2019 walk since it started in Fort Worth. She said she wasn\u2019t surprised to see them gain viral fame, but she\u2019s hopeful their message of peace helps heal \u201csuffering\u201d across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t have peace in your heart, you won\u2019t have peace in your world,\u201d she said.Dozens of people began lining up along the park aRamey Ave<\/p>\n The start of the walk was previously anticipated to take place at the Fort Worth Water Gardens but changed due to rain forecasted for Saturday<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n They are expected to have lunch at the temple and host a peace gathering for the public in celebration of the completed journey.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Walk for Peace\u2019s origins in east Fort Worth<\/p>\n The monks announced their Walk for Peace initiative at an Oct. 19 press conference<\/a> at the temple. At the time, attendees mainly included the temple\u2019s youth association, members of Texas\u2019 Nepalese Buddhist Association and a few local and state officials.<\/p>\n The trekkers took the first steps<\/a> of their journey Oct. 26. Stop Six residents paused outside their homes to watch the group walk by. Some cars stopped alongside the monks so occupants could take a photo or video.\u00a0<\/p>\n The number of people captivated by the monks grew exponentially as the Walk for Peace initiative amassed 2.8 million followers<\/a> on Facebook and over 1.3 million followers on TikTok<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aloka became a popular pup with over 1 million following his Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Social media posts from across the country have shown hundreds or thousands of supporters standing or kneeling along roads waiting for the monks to pass, often holding flowers or signs with words of encouragement. Many who showed up to greet them then followed along behind them for a portion of the walk.<\/p>\n Children and adults offered the monks gifts, such as flowers, fruit or even lip balm as they walked through the bitter winter cold.\u00a0<\/p>\n The monks bestowed blessing cords<\/a> to some they encountered along the way. Local law enforcement recognized their efforts by presenting badges<\/a> to Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara.<\/p>\n The Walk for Peace is not a parade, protest or ceremony of faith, Pannakara said before the group left Fort Worth. It is \u201ca journey to bring blessings to countless lives in a world filled with uncertainty and restlessness.\u201d<\/p>\n Early into the journey, a traffic collision<\/a> outside Houston in November injured some of the walkers and resulted in a leg amputation<\/a> for one monk.<\/p>\n The weather was often unkind. They recently braved snow and ice<\/a> in the Carolinas and Virginia, following a massive winter storm in late January that hit<\/a> Texas and many states on the eastern side of the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aloka, 4, underwent surgery<\/a> for an injury to one of his legs in January. Today, the tan and white pooch is seen in social media videos walking, resting in a vehicle or sharing a moment with one of the monks.<\/p>\n The Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center has been in Fort Worth for more than 26 years. The temple serves a predominantly Vietnamese-American community that follows the Buddhist faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n The center is the future site of the $200 million Dhammacetiya Project, which is 14-acres that will feature 840 stupas, or shrines, each engraved with sacred scriptures representing the Buddha\u2019s wisdom and compassion. The project was announced in 2022, and the temple kicked off the expansion<\/a> in May.\u00a0<\/p>\n Buddhist monks dedicate their lives to practicing and sharing Buddha\u2019s teachings through meditation, study and service. Following Buddha\u2019s example, monks often undertake walking pilgrimages that can last for months.\u00a0<\/p>\n At Eastover Park, Fort Worth resident Gladys Perales, 49, awaited their arrival with a friend from her Catholic church. Some of her other Catholic friends were \u201cquestioning\u201d whether to come because of their religion, but Perales said she didn\u2019t hesitate.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think everybody agrees that it doesn’t matter as long as we’re all here for peace, and that’s the message,\u201d Perales said.<\/p>\n That message was one Diamond Yonvadisi, 55, and her fiance Raad Algatrani, 57, needed as they made their way to the east Fort Worth temple.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yonvadisi, who is from Sevierville, Tennessee, is in North Texas to visit her brother in Denton, she said. He is diagnosed with bone cancer and is under hospice care, she said. Tomorrow will be the last time they say goodbye, she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI needed this,\u201d Yonvadisi said. \u201cI needed to be here to get a little bit of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n This is a developing story and will be updated.<\/p>\n Maria Crane is a multimedia journalist for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at maria.crane@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Christine Vo is an audience fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at christine@fortworthreport.org or @trinhvchristine<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. 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