Walk for Peace: Charlotte, NC

Photos by Sean Rayford for Getty Images

The venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara walks with Aloka the Peace Dog Thursday afternoon in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 15, 2026. All photos made on January 15 by Sean Rayford for Getty Images.

For a few hundred yards, Aloka the Peace Dog rejoined the Buddhist monks in their Walk for Peace on Thursday afternoon in Charlotte, North Carolina. As the monks set out from their midday break on the northeast side of the Queen City, Aloka wore a cone after recent surgery.

As Aloka continues his recovery, the monks will continue trekking through North Carolina for another two weeks, through the end of January.

The Walk for Peace is estimated to arrive in Greensboro on January 19 or 20 and in Raleigh on January 24. After leaving Charlotte on Thursday, they will spend tonight in China Grove, North Carolina — population 4,456 (as of 2021).

Led by the venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara, the monks are walking from Texas to Washington, D.C. spreading a message of mindfulness, unity and kindness while requesting that Vesak, Buddha's birthday, be recognized as a U.S. federal holiday.