Bodhgaya fest-ready

Gaya: The Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC) is gearing up for the three-day-long Buddha Jayanti celebrations that will begin on April 29.

The main event, according to Gaya DM-cum-shrine committee chairman Abhishekh Singh, will be held on April 30 morning. Governor Satya Pal Malik would be the chief guest of the function to be held near the shrine.

A tent city has been put up on the western outskirts of the township for devotees. The celebrations will continue till May 1. Representatives of Bodhgaya-based foreign monasteries have been roped in to make the programme more meaningful and diverse, say shrine committee sources.

Followers would be accommodated in a tent city to be erected near the NH-83 intersection, separate arrangements would be made to accommodate an estimated 7,000 monks in the Kalchakra Maidan to the northwest of the Buddha’s seat of enlightenment.

The district magistrate also directed the officials concerned to ensure uninterrupted water and power supply during the three-day event. BTMC would also arrange free e-rickshaws for aged and differently abled devotees. Total eight e-rickshaws will be arranged to ferry the devotees in the restricted zone where entry of motorised vehicles stands banned. Two air-conditioned buses will ply between Gaya railway station and Bodhgaya.

The civil surgeon has been directed to put up special health camps for visitors. Some people had raised the issue of beggars and stray dogs playing spoilsport during the event and hence the DM has asked BTMC officials to address the problems.

“Foreign tourist footfall would ascertain the success of the much-publicised programme,” said a tour operator. The tourist inflow has registered a slowdown, first in the wake of the terrorist attack on the shrine and second prohibition slowed down the footfall as beer was the most preferred beverage by the visitors,” added the tour operator.

Courtesy: The Telegraph