Hemas Travels takes tourists on religious tour

Text and pix by Sumanachandra Ariyawansa in India

The Taj Mahal

tourists sharing a light moment in a boat

Placing flowers at the feet of Lord Buddha

Worshipping a Buddha statue

The Buddhagaya

The Nalanda

Many foreign tourists and pilgrims from all over the world assembled at the Indian Delhi Safdarjung Railway station and were given red carpet welcome before embarking on a Buddhist circuit special train to visit in the foot steps of Lord Buddha. The event was organized by the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited.

The luxury train with all modern amenities similar to a top star class hotel, travelled for several days. The tour party included corporate and tourists from USA, Australia, Singapore, Italy, Korea, India, Sri Lanka and China.

The first stop of the tour was at Gaya station in the early hours of the following day and after breakfast the group was taken to where Prince Siddhartha attained Buddhahood, passing the famous river Niranjala, presently known as river Falgu.

Buddagaya was the most venerated and respected place of worship for the Buddhists. Having worshipped Gaya, the group rushed to the Buddhagaya Hotel for an over night stay.

The following day, the tourists arrived at Rajgir and Nalanda. The significance of Rajgir, was that Lord Buddha frequently visited and preached on a rock named the Gijjakutta rock.

Nalanda is a university where philosophy had been taught during the time of Lord Buddha, where it has a capacity to accommodate over 10,000 students and two thousand lecturers.

On the fourth day of the tour, the group reached the world's oldest living city, which had been earlier known as Baranasa. The city of Varannasi, is situated along the West bank of the Ganges in the Northern Indian State of Uttar Saranath. We too worshipped Isipathana Migadaya as well.

On the fifth day of the tour, the group reached Kushinngar, which was close to the Hiranyavati River, where Gautama Buddha attained Mahaparinivan or final Nirvanna after falling ill. This place was an ideal location for meditation.

Lumbini in Nepal, was the next destination which was a place of significance, as Lord Buddha was born at this place of worship. On the seventh day, the tourists made its way to the Jetavana Gardens, which was situated at Sravasti, where the Lord Buddha most of time preached and visited when he was alive. The tour also included a visit to the Taj Mahal, which was one of the seven wonders of the world.

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited, organized the entire tour and Sri Lankan travel agent Hemas Travels (Pvt) Limited, coordinated the tour with its Chief Executive Senaka Wijesinghe, who provided information on the tour. The tour provided a unique opportunity to visit most of the Buddhist ruins in India in an organized and economical manner, he said. This tour had been organized fortnightly.

Pilgrims and tourists in shopping spree	The group in Rajgir