Over 1k Buddhist devotees participate in ‘Gyan Yatra’

Gaya: A day before the three-day annual Bodh Mahotsav all set to begin at Kalachakra Ground on Thursday evening, an eight-km ‘Gyan Yatra’ was organised from Dhungeshwari Hills to the Mahabodhi Mahavihara in Bodh Gaya on Wednesday morning.Union micro, small and medium enterprises minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, state assembly speaker Prem Kumar, and deputy CMs Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha will inaugurate the Bodh Mahotsav at Kalachakra Ground, located around 200 metres north-west of the world-heritage Mahabodhi Mahavihara, on Thursday evening. In view of the mahotsav, the district administration has issued a traffic plan, restricting vehicular movement around Kalachakra Ground and the Mahavihara from Thursday to Saturday.On Wednesday morning, about 1,000 devotees and tourists — including nearly 300 Buddhist monks and nuns from different monasteries in Bodh Gaya — participated in the ‘Gyan Yatra’. On the way to the Mahavihara, the procession halted at Sujatagarh, the place where Sujata is believed to have offered ‘kheer’ to Buddha.The district administration, in coordination with the Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC), arranged six buses to facilitate the movement of participants.

While two buses started from the BTMC office, two from Magadh University campus, and one each from the Mahabodhi Meditation Centre and the Burmese Vihar.Participants departed for Dhungeshwari by bus at 6am, where additional collector (departmental inquiry) Ravishankar Sharma and probationer IAS Suraj Kumar flagged off the yatra near Mahakala Cave. Highlighting the significance of the event, Sharma said, “It is aimed at promoting Bodh Gaya as a global centre for peace and Buddhist heritage.”Prominent participants included Mahavihara chief priest Bhikkhu Chalinda, Bhikkhu Manoj, Archan Nippon, BTMC member secretary Mahashweta Maharathi, committee member Arvind Kumar Singh, a Vietnamese cultural group, and others.