Prashan urges Reddy to include Odisha in Buddhist circuit under Swadesh Darshan scheme

Bhubaneswar : Union Minister of Education and Skill Development Dharmendra Pradhan today urged the Union Ministry of Culture to include Odisha in the Buddhist Circuit declared under the Swadesh Darshan scheme. (SDS)

Mr Pradhan in a letter to Union Minister of Culture G Krishna Reddy said under SDS,the Tourism Ministry has sanctioned five projects of Rs 325.53 crore for Buddhist Circuit development in Madhya Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

It is unfortunate that though Odisha has a rich Buddhist tradition and shrine, the state has neither included it in the ‘’Buddhist circuit’’ nor any projects under the scheme had been allocated to Buddhist shrines in Odisha, Mr Pradhan said.

He said during 8th-10th century AD under Bhaumakara dynasty rule , Buddhism was considered a state religion of Odisha. It is believed that the first disciples of Lord Buddha such as Tapasu and Bhalika were from the modern city of Jajpur.

Though Buddhism entered Odisha long before the Kalinga war, it took wings in the region under the patronage of emperor Ashoka.
Jaydev, a renowned Odia poet described Lord Buddha as one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu in 12th century AD.

The Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang reinforces the glory of Buddhism in Odisha. The influence of Buddhism could be found in the socio-cultural life of people of the state and the rich depository of history is reflected in Buddhist monuments of the state, Mr.Pradhan said.

Various Buddhist shrines and monuments in Odisha like Dhaulagiri, Lalitgiri, Udaygiri, Ratnagiri and Jirang drew huge international tourists especially from east and south-east Asia and national tourists from North east, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.

Mr Pradhan said however, tourist facilities in these Buddhist holy places leaves much to be desired and lacking in essential tourist facilities such as connectivity, accommodation and utilities.

He said Buddhist tourism in India as a tourism product has a tremendous potential.

Mr Pradhan sought the personal intervention of Mr Reddy for inclusion of Odisha in the proposed Buddhist Circuit under the SDS keeping in mind the massive potential for increasing development of tourism in the holy Buddhist places, increasing tourist footfalls to the state and increasing the livelihood of Odia people.

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