Buddhist ‘Eco Padyatra’ Kicks Off, To Conclude At Ratnagiri

Bhubaneswar: More than a hundred monks, nuns and followers of Buddhism from across the globe have embarked on a 140 km journey from the Odisha capital. The ‘Eco Padyatra’ aims at promoting Buddhist tourism and creating awareness on environment protection.

The eight-day padyatra, organized by New Delhi-based Drukpa Charitable Trust,will cover several Buddhist heritage sites including Khandagiri, Udaygiri, Dhauligiri, Lalitgiri and Ratnagiri, and conclude on October 3.

The participants have come in from seven countries- Bhutan, Nepal, Australia, Tibet, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. They will offer special prayers for world peace and will carry out cleanliness drives.

Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda flagged off the padyatra on Tuesday. He said that despite repeated requests to the Center, the Buddhist circuit in Odisha is yet to be included under various central schemes and programmes.

“The purpose of the padyatra is to promote the Buddhist circuits i.e. Ratnagiri, Udaygiri, Lalitgiriand Dhauli located in the State. Though we have written to the Centre several times, no decision to include it under Swadesh Darshan scheme, has been taken yet,” he said.

The Odisha government is putting in all efforts by itself to preserve and develop the Buddhist heritage sites in Odisha, he added.

BJP Spokesperson Lekhashree Samantasinghar, however, accused the state government of spreading lies and said that the BJP-led Centre had always tried to protect and restore the age-old holy structures and sites of the country.