Title - Buddhist train in state on Dec 25

BHUBANESWAR: The state government will showcase its Buddhist tourism potential to foreign tourists who are slated to arrive in Odisha by the Mahaparinirvan Express, better knows as the Buddisht train, on December 25.

The special inter-state train, which promotes Buddhist tourism and covers famous Buddhist destinations in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, was extended to Odisha earlier this year. The train, jointly promoted by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and Odisha tourism department, had last come to the state on January 22.

"We are ready to welcome the tourists to Odisha for the second time. The train, which has a total running time of eight nights and nine days, has a two-day halt in the stay. Last time, the train was here for only one day," state tourism director Manoranjan Pattnaik said.

Last time, the train carried 89 tourists, who included 16 foreigners, from Thailand, Indonesia and France. This time, the tourism department expects a footfall of tourists, including foreigners.

According to itinerary, the Mahaparinirvan Express will chug out of Safdarjung railway station in New Delhi on December 23. On the second day, the train will touch famous Bodhgaya temples in Bihar before reaching Odisha on the third day. The train will halt at Haridaspur railway station from where tourists would be taken on sightseeing to Lalitgiri, Udayagiri and Ratnagiri in Jajpur district. On the same day, tourists would be brought to the state museum in Bhubaneswar where they can view the tooth relics of Gautama Buddha, preserved in a golden casket. On December 26, the tourists would visit the Sun temple in Konark, sea beach in Puri and Buddhist peace pagoda at Dhauli hill in Bhubaneswar.

Last year, chief minister Naveen Patnaik had urged the Railways to extend the train to Odisha to tap the state's Buddhist tourism potential. Despite having several enchanting Buddhist sites, Odisha has so far failed to attract tourists from abroad. Even though thousands of tourists from East Asia, Southeast Asia and Nepal visit Bodh Gaya in Bihar every year, the footfall in Odisha is abysmally poor. Officially, the inflow of foreign tourists to Odisha stood at 64,719 in 2012. While only 482 tourists from Thailand visited the state last year, about 70 came from Hong Kong, 470 from Singapore, 233 from Indonesia, 3,930 from Japan and 1,601 from Korea. Sources said more than 324 Buddhist sites exist in Odisha, out of which 108 have remains of Buddhist establishments.