GAYA: The stakeholders of Bodh Gaya tourism business are now losing all hopes for a revival during the tourist season this year as majority of annual events of the Buddhists that witnessed participation of large number of foreign tourists in the past are likely to be cancelled owing to Covid-19 pandemic.
Most awaited among the events is the visit of Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who started coming to Bodh Gaya every year since 2018. Earlier, the Dalai Lama used to visit Bodh Gaya to lead the Kalchakra ceremony along with his supporters. This happened to be a great opportunity for tourism business in the heritage city. The Dalai Lama has led the Kalchakra initiation in Bodh Gaya on five occasions in December 1973, 1985 and 2003 and in January 2012 and January 2017.
This year, the five-day Bodh Gaya schedule was issued earlier on the official website of the Dalai Lama, according to which the Tibetan spiritual leader was proposed to give teaching on Gyalsey Thokme Sango’s ‘Thirty-seven practices of a Bodhisattva’. However, according to the latest information available on the website, all engagements of the Dalai Lama remain postponed indefinitely owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Dalai Lama has not been appearing in public since March this year. He would, however, give live webcast teaching on ‘The Heart Sutra’ from January 5 to 7 and live webcast talk on ‘Education’ on December 15.
“So far, we have not received any information regarding the Bodh Gaya visit of the Dalai Lama,” Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC) secretary Nangzey Dorjee said.
Apart from the Dalai Lama’s visit, the annual prayer schedules like Kagyu Monlam and Nigma Monlam are also likely to be cancelled. Kagyu Monlam and Nigma Monlam are the annual prayer events of Kagyu and the Nigma sects of Tibetan Buddhists.
Now, the only hope for the stakeholders is the Tipitaka chanting. The Light of Buddha Dhamma Foundation organises Tipitaka chanting in Bodh Gaya every year. Monks, nuns and other devotees from Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos PDR, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Vietnam participate in the event.