International conference on Buddhist heritage concludes

JAJPUR: The three-day long international Buddhist conference ended on Sunday at the famous Buddhist site at Udayagiri in Jajpur district. The conference ended with a valedictory address by Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare.

Scholars from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, USA and other countries participated in the conference. All the delegates discussed on various themes such as Buddhist Philosophy and Schools of Thought, Buddhist remains of Odisha, Buddhism for International Peace and Relevance of Buddhism in the 21st Century, Buddhist art, iconography and architecture and Buddhist vestiges and tourism.

While addressing the scholars, Bhandare spoke about the rich cultural heritage of the State with special reference to Buddhist Heritage. He urged the domestic and foreign tour operators to promote the destinations internationally.

The main objective of the conference was to give major thrust to cultural tourism and explore potential related to the Buddhist circuits in India particularly to Odisha. The challenge was to craft a perfect platform for such a high profile event and to implement perfection from the beginning to the end. It’s safe to say that the event was a big success. Odisha has a rich Buddhist heritage, with several important sites associated with the life of Lord Buddha, which are of great interest for followers of Buddhism the world over.

“The conference was held with a view to showcasing and projecting the Buddhist heritage of the State. The Buddhist conference highlighted the relevance of Buddhism in today’s age more than 2,000 years after the ancient Indian King Ashoka took it upon himself to spread the message of Lord Buddha,” said senior official, Archeological Survey of India (ASI), Bhubaneswar, Jiban Patnaik.

Among others, Badachana MLA Amar Prasad Satapathy, Tourism and Culture Principal Secretary AK Tripathy, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha chairman JK Mohanty and Tour Operator from New Delhi A Khan were present as the guests of the last day conference.