On Buddha's trail

TOURISM: India's Buddhist pilgrim sector is suffering due to poor infrastructure and official apathy. Now, FICCI's plan to boost footfalls may actually help revive the glory of the circuit.

India may be the birthplace of Budhhism and may even boast of the most important Buddhist centres, but when it comes to tourism, it attracts only 0.3 million Buddhist tourists each year.

The figures look especially sad when we take into account that some of our neighbouring Asian countries "" China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar "" account for more than 90 per cent of the world's Buddhist population (350 million in 2004).

To boost tourists' footfalls in this circuit, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has unveiled a five-point agenda to up the Budhhist pilgrim arrivals in India by 400 per cent and generate upwards of $1 billion of revenue from these circuits.

This figure may look attractive on paper, but in reality the picture that the Buddhist circuits in India paint is very different. Ask a foreign pilgrim of his/her experience and the popular feedback you get is that of "nothing less than torture".

Says Lajpat Rai of Lotus Tours, who organises tours on the Buddism circuit, "First we need to change this perception and only then will we get the numbers."

To list out the problems, first and foremost there is no direct flight between the two most important Buddhist centres in India "" Bodhgaya (where Buddha got his enlightenment) and Kushinagar (where he attained parinirvana).

"Tourists have to travel by road for over 13 hours to cover 430 kilometres, passing through some of the most notorious areas in Bihar "" Vaishali, Gopalganj and Muzzafarpur, to name a few. The roads here are not that great and there are no toilets along the way, leave aside wayside amenities," says Rai.

There is an urgent need for an air connection between Delhi and Gaya, either via Gorakhpur (which would solve the issue of connectivity with Kushinagar which is close to Gorakhpur) or Varanasi (which is close to Sarnath).

The FICCI study also suggests more international flights from important source markets such as China and Japan as well as more domestic flight connections to Buddhist destinations.

The ministry of tourism has identified 22 important Buddhist sites throughout the country for development and promotion. In the 10th plan, Rs 116.54 crore has been sanctioned so far by the centre for 52 projects covering 10 states.

The ministry has also been able to mobilise external funding from Japan for the development of infrastructure at major Buddhist sites. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation envisages a total expenditure of Rs 680 crore for selected Buddhist sites of which the loan amount is Rs 395.63 crore, spread over seven years from 2005-2012.

According to Rai, there is a huge demand for this segment. Countries like Sri Lanka and Myanmar get 4-5 million Buddhists. The FICCI study also suggests the issuance of a multi-entry visa for tourists who wish to visit the birthplace of the Buddha at Lumbini in Nepal.

On the infrastructure front, Nand Kishore Yadav, tourism minister, Bihar, informed that the state has set aside Rs 3,000 crore for development of roads, especially along the trail. There is also a plan to evaluate connecting the Buddhist circuit in Bihar through an air taxi service.

Better air connectivity and a proposal to start the "Mahaparinirvana Special" train from Delhi connecting Bodh-gaya, Nalanda, Sarnath, Kushinagar and Lumbini... All this will surely help but what is really required is world class infrastructure and basic amenities at these sites.