Patna, India
-- The British Army
will send about 4,000 of its troops, who are followers of Buddhism,
in a group of 100-150 people to spend a week at Bodh Gaya and
Sarnath to seek peace after their prolonged involvement in the war
zones in different countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq. They
will all meditate under the famous tree at Bodh Gaya, where Lord
Buddha had attained enlightenment in 6th century
B.C.
Mahabodhi tree has been declared a world
heritage site by the Unesco in 2002.
"The British soldiers will start arriving
in Bodh Gaya from early next year," Bihar's minister for tourism
Sunil Kumar Pintu told Mail Today on Monday. "They will arrive in
separate groups of about 100-150 people and meditate under the holy
tree. They will continue to arrive here throughout the next
year."
Pintu said that the troops will spend six
days in Bodh Gaya and one day at Sarnath in Uttar
Pradesh.
The minister said that the tourism
department of the Bihar government had entered into an agreement
with an international travel agency, to facilitate the trips during
the World Tourism Mart held in London last month.
"Bihar had taken part in the World Tourism
Mart for the first time which was held in London between November
5-8 this year," he said. "It was during that tourism fair that the
officials of the British army got in touch with us through the
travel agency. We had three rounds of talks in this
regard."
Pintu said that the exact dates of the
British troops had not yet been finalised yet. He stated that the
state government would take care of the security of the British
soldiers and facilitate their smooth stay in holy south Bihar town.
"We will provide our wholehearted support to the British soldiers
troops who want to meditate under the Mahabodhi tree," he
said.
The tourism minister said that the British
Army had about 4,000 troops who were followers of Buddhism. "Since
Bodh Gaya happens to be the holiest of the holy places for the
Buddhists, the British army has decided to arrange the trips for
its soldiers," he added.
Stating that he had discussed the details
of the trip with the British army officials, Pintu said that most
of the British troops coming to Bihar had been deployed in the
different countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq in recent times.
"The visit to Bodh Gaya and Sarnath is aimed at providing them
peace and helping them distress them after their experiences in
those countries."
He said that it was for the first time that
such a visit has been organised.
Sushil Kumar Singh, managing director of
the travel agency, said that his agency had signed an agreement in
this regard with the British Army in London month. He said that Dr
Sunil Karyakara, a Buddhist chaplain with the British army, had
been made the coordinator for the trips. "We have entered into
agreement with the British army to bring the stressed soldiers to
various places on the Buddhist circuit," he said. "But they would
spend most of the time at Bodh Gaya."
Singh said that the exact dates of the
first round of the soldiers' visit had not been finalised but they
would start arriving from early next year. "We will hold a meeting
with the British army officials in January to chalk out the final
itinerary in which Bihar tourism department officials will also be
involved," he said. "The trips would continue in future as
well."
Bihar has witnessed remarkable rise in the
number of tourists from the foreign countries in recent years. Last
year, the number of international tourists visiting Bihar was 8.70
lakh which was ten times more than what it used to be a decade ago.
This year, 8.40 lakh had already visited the state till August and
their number was expected to cross 10 lakh by the end of the
year.
Lucky
bunch!