The Union Minister for Culture Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch has said that the Buddha’s social philosophy of inclusiveness is most relevant to today’s world. Inaugurating a Conference on Developing the Buddhist Pilgrimage (Circuit) in India she said, we all must seek to inculcate true values and practices of altruism, love, compassion and non-violence taught by the Buddha to cope up with worldly pressures. 

Stating that her Ministry is supporting Buddhist educational institutions located at Sarnath, Leh, Nalanda and Bomdila, the Minister reaffirmed the commitment to preserve and protect and promote Lord Buddha’s teachings and values of love, compassion and non-violence. She said, apart from providing regular funding to various Buddhist Institutions and individuals working to spread the teachings of the Buddha the government is committed to undertake initiatives which will enable people to personally visit the places where the noble Siddhartha was born, got enlightenment and became the Buddha, shared his wisdom with his followers and himself travelled great distances to benefit the needy and liberate them from their sufferings. 

The Minister said, since India is the place of origin of Buddhism, we are deeply conscious of the country’s important position, particularly among the Buddhist countries. A number of important places connected with the Buddha like the place of enlightenment (Bodhgaya), the place of his first sermon (Sarnath) and the place of his Mahaparinirvana (Kushinagar) are all located in India. It was here that Buddhism flourished for centuries and spread in various parts of the World. The learned monks and philosophers from famous Buddhist educational institutions such as Nalanda, Takshshila etc. helped in the dissemination of the teachings of the Buddha to various countries and helped the seekers and scholars from outside India who came to these Universities to enrich their knowledge and further strengthen their faith in the Buddha and his teachings. She said, even now, a large number of devout from all over the world visit every year the holy Buddhist sites in India and pay their respects to the Tathagata. 

The Minister said, in order to facilitate spread of the sacred teachings of the Buddha the Government constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri B. Mungekar the then Member, Planning Commission. Developing Buddhist Circuit is one of the recommendations of the said Committee. She said, it is in this context we have to generate attractive but workable alternatives to better connectivity and infrastructural facilities for both pilgrims as well as other tourists. She said, the government is committed to undertake initiatives which will enable people to personally visit the holy places connected with the life of Buddha. 

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