RailEnquiry

BHUBANESWAR: The proposed extension of inter-state special Buddhist train Mahaparinirvan Express to Odisha was finalized at a high-level meeting attended by chief secretary B K Patnaik here on Wednesday.

It has been decided that the train will run as a joint venture between the state-run Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had urged the Centre in May to extend the route of the special Buddhist train to Odisha.

"Budhist sites like Lalitgiri, Khandagiri, Udayagiri, Chadragiri and Ratnagiri will be included in the tour itinerary of the Buddhist express," a tourism officer said. "We proposed to the IRCTC to run the train in Januray and February," he added.

At present, the Buddhist circuit special train covers most parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, connecting several Buddhist sites in Bodhgaya, Nalanda, Rajgir, Sarnath, Gorakhpur, Khushinagar, Gonda, Sravasti and Agra. The entire tour takes seven nights and eight days. Under the package, pilgrims are also taken to Lumbini in Nepal by bus from Khushinagar, sources said.

Sources said the Odisha chapter of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) had in the past demanded that the Buddhist train's route be extended to Odisha. "It had been a longstanding demand. It is good if the state government facilitates extension of the train route. Since tribal tourism is in doldrums, we need to tap the Buddhist tourism sector," city-based tour operator Benjamin Simon said.

Even though thousands of tourists from East Asia, South-East Asia and Nepal visit Bodh Gaya in Bihar every year, the footfall in Odisha is poor. Sources said nearly 1,175 tourists from South Korea visited the state in 2009. A little over 3,500 visitors from Japan toured Odisha in the same year. In all, 8,547 tourists from different South East Asian countries had come to the state in 2009.

"We will organize road shows and seminars in Thailand and Taiwan for attracting Buddhist tourists to Odisha," the tourism officer said.