Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajpaksa arrives at Bodh Gaya

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajpaksa, accompanied by his wife Shiranthi Rajpaksa and a 70-member delegation, on Friday arrived at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya for pilgrimage.

Rajpaksa was received at the Gaya International Airport by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Education Minister PK Shahi and senior state government civil and police officials, official sources said. He was accorded a guard of honour by the state police.

From the airport, the cavalcade of the Sri Lankan President and members of his delegation drove straight to the Mahabodhi temple where they will perform religious rituals, the sources said.

Rajpaksa would meditate before a peepal tree where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment and visit the Sri Lankan Buddhist Vihar in the temple town. The Chief Minister will host a lunch for the Sri Lankan President and his delegation, the sources said.

Meanwhile, CPI(M-L) Liberation workers raised slogans against the Sri Lankan President from some distance as his cavalcade drove towards the Mahabodhi temple.

The protesters, who had mingled in the crowd that gathered to welcome the visiting dignitaries, shouted slogans like the 'Killer of Tamils go back'. Two of the protesters have been detained for questioning, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Law and Order), Rakesh Kumar Dube said.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in Bodh Gaya town in view of the Sri Lankan president's visit, police sources said.

Bihar expects over 1 million foreign tourists this year

Bihar is set for a record arrival of over one million foreign tourists in 2012, Sunil Kumar Pintu, Minister for Tourism, Government of Bihar, said. “I am fully confident that the number of foreign tourists in Bihar would cross one million in 2012,” Pintu was quoted.

He said that more than 800,000 foreign tourists visited the state till October 2012. As per the Central government’s data, about 9.72 lakh foreigners visited the state’s tourist attractions, including Bodh Gaya, Rajgir and Nalanda, Pintu said.

High security for Dalai Lama's visit to Bodh Gaya

High security arrangements were put in place for the visit of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama to Bodh Gaya in Bihar where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment.

The Dalai Lama will spend a week in Bodh Gaya, starting Jan 4. He will pray at the Mahabodhi temple, said Tenzing Lama of the Tibetan monastery at Bodh Gaya.

'A fool proof security will be in place for Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's visit to Bodh Gaya as he faces serious threat to his life,' an official said Sunday.

Tenzing Lama said Dalai Lama will give a five-day programme of teachings at Bodh Gaya from Jan 5-9.

'Over 50,000 people from all over the world are expected to assemble at Bodh Gaya's Kalchakra Maidan to hear a discourse by the Dalai Lama,' he said.

Thousands of Tibetans have already arrived in Bodh Gaya from all across India to attend Dalai Lama's meeting. A local police officer said Bodh Gaya has turned into a mini-Tibet with the huge gathering of Tibetans.

The 1,500-years-old holiest Buddhist shrine Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya, 110 km from here, is where the Buddha attained enlightenment 2,550 years ago.link

Paswan wants Buddhist control over Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi temple

The LJP will fight for Buddhist control over the management of the Mahabodhi temple and to ensure it we seek an amendment to the Mahabodhi Temple Management Act, 1949," Paswan said.

Paswan said that the LJP will launch an agitation for Buddhist control over the management of the Mahabodhi temple if the Bihar government failed to amend the act.

"It was wrong to deny rights to Buddhists, it was against the constitution. Buddhists deserve a total control over the management of the Mahabodhi temple," Paswan said.

For a long time Buddhist monks have been demanding total control over the 1,500-year-old temple at Bodh Gaya, located 110 km from here, where the Buddha attained enlightenment 2,550 years ago. They decided to intensify their agitation last month as the Bihar government was not paying heed to their demands. Buddhist monks are unhappy with the Bihar government for "deliberately" delaying an amendment to the Mahabodhi Temple Management Act, 1949, to ensure Buddhist control over the management of the temple. They described the delay as a "conspiracy" by the government to keep the management under the control of non-Buddhists.

According to the existing law, the Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee (BGTMC) should comprise four Buddhists and the same number of Hindu members for a three-year period with the Gaya district magistrate as its ex-officio chairman.link

Tourist flow goes up in Bihar

The initiatives taken by Bihar government to boost the sagging tourism sector has begun to pay dividends as the number of foreign tourists in the state has gone up by nearly six times in three years.

The number of foreign tourists visiting Bihar has gone up from 63,321 in 2005-06 to 3,56,446 in 2008-09, which was nearly six times, state's tourism minister Ram Pravesh Rai said.

Rai said steady and healthy growth in the number of foreign and domestic tourists was the result of state's NDA government's concerted efforts to create a conducive environment and its commitment to provide better security to them.

"People (tourists) are now feeling safe and secured in the NDA regime and that's why they are visiting Bihar in big numbers", Rai said.

The number of foreigners visited the state in 2005-06 was 63,321 which rose to 94,446 in 2006-07. Similarly, it went up to 1,77,362 in 2007-08 and was almost doubled in the very next year to touch 3,56,446 foreigners in 2008-09. More than 1.14 lakh foreigners have visited till the end of April in the current fiscal.

Similarly, there has been steady rise in the domestic tourists also, except in 2007-08 when it showed a little decline. The number of domestic tourists, which was 86.87 lakh in 2005-06, was hovering over one crore in subsequent years and touched its all time high to 1.21 crore in 2008-09.

Realising the huge potential of tourism in Bihar, which was home to a number of Buddhist, Jain and Sikh shrines, the NDA government increased budgetary allocation to tourism department after coming to power in November, 2005.

The government made a substantial allocation from a meagre Rs 7.43 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 29.78 crore in the current financial year (2009-10) which was almost a four-time raise, the minister said.

Rai said the department has formulated a tourism policy to provide impetus to the sector which has also been accorded the status of industry by the state government.

With a view to making travel more convenient for all tourists including foreigners, steps were underway for broadening and strengthening roads linking to Buddhist, Jain, Sikh religious circuits, official sources said.

Talks were also on with several aviation companies for increasing the frequency of international flights connecting Bodh Gaya airport.

To woo the foreigners, the government has decided to build a three and five star rated hotels at tourist spots such as Patna, Rajgir and Bodh Gaya on public-private partnership (PPP) model.

Tourism Police Force would be deployed at Gaya, Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Vaishali in the first phase and subsequently the force would be stationed at all the tourist sites.

The government was committed to develop tourist sites at Vaishali, Jehanabad, Maner, Kesariya, Lauria, Nandangarh, to attract more tourists, the minister said.

The government has plans to launch courses in travel and tourism, hospitality, hotel management, catering guide, tour and travel operator with assistance from Human Resources Development department to promote greater expertise for improved management of the tourism sector. link

Swine flu alert in Bihar

The Bihar government has sounded a swine flu alert in the state, particularly in towns along the Indo-Nepal international border.

"A swine flu alert has been sounded in Bihar, especially in border towns of Raxaul and Jogbani, besides Gaya,"state Health Minister Nand Kishore Yadav said.

The pilgrim town of Gaya has a number of international flights, he said, adding that special arrangements have been made for flu tests in the state.

Bihar boy’s film shines at Cannes

Gaya born Abhijeet Kumar’s film Namah Shivaya Shantaya has opened to rave reviews at the Cannes film festival on Monday. The film was screened at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival at the Indian pavillion 108, Village International, organised by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the industry body ASSOCHAM.

The film, based on the teachings from the book of the same name by Shrii Anandamurti, has at its core the renewal of a great and timeless message, still as relevant today as it was in times of old.

Bringing to life the story of Lord Shiva’s fight for justice, righteousness and peace in the fledgling society of his day, that message emerges, in essence, as that of unification: the coming together of all people as one; of all minds as one mind; and – ultimately – of all minds with the Oneness that pervades and encompasses all things for all time.

Born on January 5, 1983 Gaya, Abhijeet did his B.A (Hons.) in Psychology from Magadh University, Bodh Gaya.

A natural artistic talent, Abhijeet Kumar began his film-making journey with a vision of higher-quality entertainment for society. An MA in Film and Television Production, he has produced and directed many critically acclaimed short films and features, and acted in numerous movies, television serials, commercials and plays.

With Namah Shivaya Shantaya, under adverse conditions presenting numerous creative and logistical challenges, he succeeded admirably in pulling off a wide variety of creative and production tasks: director, executive producer, actor, script translator (from the original English), and cast and crew coordination.

Abhijeet’s creative and managerial talents eventually got the film off the ground and completed within a very short span of time and with extremely limited resources.

Currently, Abhijeet Kumar runs his own film production company ‚ DIA Entertainment ‚ and is working towards his next film. He is planning to produce a film “Nalanda” based on the massacre by Muslim invaders at the ancient Nalanda University.

The other Indian films showcased at Cannes this year are - Hrithik Roshan starrer Kites, Teen Patti featuring Amitabh Bachchan as a math professor and Aamir Khan’s hit film Taare Zameen Par among others.link

Bihar govt offers 2 plots of land to Singapore Buddhist Lodge for Pilgrim Centre

The 5th Nalanda Mentor Group meeting in Bodh Gaya in Bihar has been concluded.

The group, which included Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo, called on the state's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and updated him on details of the two-day meeting, which ended on Friday.

The Bihar government also offered for consideration two plots of land to the Singapore Buddhist Lodge to build a Pilgrim Centre for Singaporeans visiting Bodh Gaya.

The plots are near to where Lord Buddha gained enlightenment.

Mr Yeo accompanied the delegation to view the plots on Saturday.

He said: "The Chief Minister told me that we will then go through the procedures for the land that has been allocated to us. There is a hope that we can begin work on the Pilgrim Centre very quickly."