Tourists flock to Bodh Gaya, Dalai Lama visit in Dec after two-year gap

During the Covid-19 pandemic, foreign flights were banned and the number of tourists dropped to just a few hundreds at the pilgrim town.

After a lull of two years due to Covid-19 pandemic, when the foreign flights were banned and the number of tourists dropped to just a few hundreds, the holy town of Bodh Gaya in Bihar is buzzing again, with international flights landing at the airport in the town regularly with pilgrims from countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar, besides a good flow of domestic tourists, according to district officials and locals.

Buddhist monks offer prayers at Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya. (HT file)

Officials at the Bodh Gaya international airport say an average 5-10 overseas flights, including chartered ones, are landing every day with pilgrims, who visit the Mahabodhi Temple, a world heritage site, and meditate under the ancient Bodhi Tree, where Buddha attained enlightenment over 2,500 years ago.

Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC) and the tourism industry are hopeful that the Buddhist town may witness a substantial increase in tourist flow by the end of the peak season in February-March to reach an all-time high. The monasteries, closed during the pandemic, are witnessing flow of tourists.

In 2019, before the pandemic, the tourist flow in Bodh Gaya had gone past five-lakh annual mark.

Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is also scheduled to visit the town after a gap of nearly two years, an event most eagerly awaited in the pilgrim town. The last time he had visited Bodh Gaya was in January 2020.

According to an official communique from the office His Holiness, Dalai Lama will give three days of teaching on the mornings of December 29, 30 & 31 at the Kalachakra Teaching Ground. On December 29 & 30 mornings, he will give teachings on Nagarjuna’s Commentary on Bodhicitta (jangchup semdrel). On December 31 morning, His Holiness will confer the Blessing of 21 Tara (dolma 21 jenang). He will attend a Long Life Prayer offered to him by the Geluk Tibetan Buddhist Tradition in the morning at the Kalachakra Teaching Ground.

BTMC chairman and Gaya district magistrate (DM) Dr Thiyagrajan SM has been busy overseeing the preparations. The maintenance work on the golden spire of the Mahabodhi Mahavira is nearing completion. Security has also been beefed up in the holy town.

On November 28, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is also scheduled to visit Bodh Gaya for the inauguration of the ambitious pipeline project to supply Ganga water to the holy town. He is also certain to be there also during Dalai Lama’s visit.

“The tourist inflow has been on the rise in the pilgrim town this year. As per the tourism department data, in the last seven months from April to October this year, 687,644 tourists have visited Bodh Gaya. The actual figure could be higher. In September alone, as per department figures, 308,092 tourists visited Bodh Gaya, which comes to a daily average of 10,269. The daily average arrival of tourists to Bodh Gaya for last seven months is 3,213 and we expect it to increase significantly in the next 3-4 months,” the district magistrate said.

BTMC member Arvind Kumar said the Dalai Lama would reach Bodh Gaya on December 22 and will stay there for around 25 days. “This is the period when most pilgrims, especially from overseas, are expected to reach Bodh Gaya,” he said.

Kumar said the Dalai Lama will preach at Kalchakta ground on December 29-30. “BTMC also plans to organise his preaching at the newly built state-of-the-art Bodh Gaya Cultural Centre, which was inaugurated by CM Kumar in April 2022. It has a large auditorium with 2,000 seating capacity, besides two conference halls of 500 seating capacity each. We will also invite the CM for the preachings of Dalai Lama,” he said.