Bodh Gaya to host next round of celebration of Buddha: Soni

New Delhi, May 18 (UNI) The next round of celebrations to mark Lord Buddha's enlightenment 2,550 years ago will be held in November in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni announced in the Lok Sabha today.

Replying to supplementaries, Ms Soni said the government would soon announce a detailed plan for year-long celebrations, which would culminate with an event at Kushinagar, the birth place of Lord Buddha in Uttar Pradesh.

The large-scale celebrations, launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 13 at a function here, would cover the entire country, the Minister said.

The celebrations' committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, would chalk out the year-long events soon, she said.

Replying to another question, the Minister acknowledged that the employment-intensive tourism sector had not been accorded due priority in the past five-six years.

Now, the government was trying to involve the corporate sector to develop tourism by improving infrastructure facilities, including hotels and connectivity. A core group was functioning in her Ministry for the purpose, she said.

There was also a proposal to bring all historical monuments under the tourism circuit.

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