Buddha land ready for Kalchakra puja, security tightened

Bodh Gaya, Jan 1 (IBNS): The holy land of Buddha is now ready for the Kalchakra pura which starts on Monday.

Elaborate arrangements have been made in view of the 10 day-long rituals of the Buddhists to be conducted by Tibetan spiritual leaders His Holiness the Dalai Lama who already has reached here for this special occasion.

Especially the authorities are quite alert over the security of the Dalai Lama and are leaving nothing to chances.

“Around 550 magistrates and more than 3,500 police personnel have been deputed to maintain law and order in and around the holy land,” Gaya district magistrate Kumar Ravi told the media on Sunday, “Any slackness on the part of the officials will not be tolerated”.

Authorities have also installed adequate number of CCTV cameras to keep close watch on the movements of visitors at the venue of the event.

As per a rough estimate, around 100,000 Buddhist monks and devotees have already landed here to attend the Kalchakra puja and the number is likely to increase further.

The Dalai Lama will reach Kalachakra ground around 7 am on Monday and after doing personal prayers,
he will address the devotees later.

Yet another area on which the authorities are focussing is cleanliness. An official entrusted with the task said some 400 labourers each would be working in two shifts to maintain cleanliness.

However, the number of pilgrims still remains a matter of concern for the organizers who had earlier expected more.

Reports said the organizing committee had requested the administration to arrange accommodation for some 200,000 devotees.

It was in the in light of requests that tent cities were arranged at three places in Bodh Gaya for their accommodation.

However, tents have not been booked full to capacity.

Also there are reports of less booking of hotel rooms.

(thebiharpost.com)