NEW DELHI: Delegates from 29 countries are participate in the four-day-long Sixth International Buddhist Conclave here, inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday.
The conclave has been organised by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the state governments of Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in New Delhi and Ajanta. Site visits to Rajgir, Nalanda Bodhgaya and Sarnath will also be conducted.
Kovind also launched the ministry’s website on important Buddhist sites, indiathelandofbuddha.in, and a film showcasing Buddhist sites in the country. Buddhism was the basis for an early form of globalisation and of inter-connectedness in our continent, he said.
The conclave aims to showcase the Buddhist heritage in India and boost tourism in the country, said Tourism Minister K J Alphons.
According to ministry, there are around 500 million Buddhists all over the world. But only a small percentage of them visit the Buddhist sites in India annually.
The earlier conclaves—held biennially—were organised in New Delhi and Bodhgaya in 2004, Nalanda and Bodhgaya in 2010, Varanasi and Bodhgaya in 2012, Bodhgaya and Varanasi in 2014 and in Sarnath/Varanasi and Bodhgaya in 2016.