• Security beefed up in Bodh Gaya for Dalai Lama's visit

    Written By Suresh Prasad Nikhar| Published on Dec 20, 2022, 18:09 IST | 1671539968816
    Security beefed up in Bodh Gaya for Dalai Lama's visit

    GAYA(Bihar): Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is also scheduled to visit on December 22 in holy place BodhGaya 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, said SSP Harpreet Kaur. 
    Preparations are going on in full swing for the special prayers on completion of maintenance work of the golden spire of world heritage Mahabodhi Mahavihara.
    While talking to "Newsroot" SSP Harpreet Kaur said a triple layer security is being organised in Bodh Gaya for the visit of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama. He is scheduled to arrive on December 22 and is likely to stay in the heritage city for nearly 29 days.
    Deployment of central and state police force besides dog squads and bomb disposal squads would be deployed in and around Bodh Gaya during the visit of Dalai Lama," SSP Harpreet Kaur said on Tuesday. 
    During the period, he will be delivering discourses on Nagarjuna's commentary on 'Bodhichitta' in the morning of December 29 and 30 at Kalchakra ground, about 200 metres north-west of the Mahavihara. The work to erect pandal at the Kalachakra ground has already been completed, added sources.
    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.
    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.
    The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama left Dharamsala today to head for Bodh Gaya via New Delhi.
    The Dalai Lama left Dharamsala- the defacto capital of exiled Tibetans earlier today to Bodhgaya in the Indian state of Bihar.  
    As the convoy of the Tibetan leader drove down from Tsuglag- khang, Tibetans and the followers of the His Holiness have lined beside the narrow roads of the hill town to get a glimpse of their spiritual leader.
    The Dalai Lama’s first itinerary will see him visit Gurgaon Salwan Education Trust, a school near Delhi, on 21 December. His engagements in Gaya will see him give a three- day teaching on Nagarjuna’s “Commentary on Bodhichitta” at the Kalachakra Teaching Ground in Bodhgaya from 29-31 December. On 1 January 2023, the octogenarian Tibetan leader will attend a Long Life Prayer offered to him by the Geluk Tibetan Buddhist Tradition at the Kalachakra Teaching Ground.
    The Tibetan Nobel laureate is visiting Bodhgaya after a gap of nearly two years. His last visit to Bodhgaya was in January 2020.
    According to sources, officials at the Bodh Gaya international airport have said that on average, 5-10 overseas flights, including chartered ones, are landing every day with pilgrims, who visit the Mahabodhi Temple.

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