Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema
Khandu dedicated a State guest house to the people at Gaya in Bihar.
The guest house, besides offering
accommodation to Buddhist pilgrims from Arunachal Pradesh, will double up as a
convention and cultural centre.
Arunachal CM Khandu profusely expressed
gratitude to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for allotting the land to the
Arunachal Pradesh Government for the construction of the guest house.
He said it was a dream project of his
father and former chief minister Dorjee Khandu to have a facility for Buddhist
followers of the State, who throng Gaya at least once a year.
Bodh Gaya is one of the most religiously
important places in Bharat. Gaya, as a pilgrimage site, is revered by both
Buddhists and Hindus. It specifically holds a very important place in Buddhism
as Gautama Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment in the city.
“Hundreds of pilgrims from our State,
especially from the districts of West Kameng and Tawang come here, particularly
during the winters. The dormitories in the guest house are specifically
designed to accommodate devotees. With this one of my late father’s incomplete
dreams and aspirations of the Buddhist people of my State have been fulfilled,”
said Khandu.
He recalled that Dorjee Khandu, as the
then chief minister in 2011, had written a letter to his Bihar counterpart
Nitish Kumar seeking a plot of land for construction of a guest house.
Unfortunately, barely a couple of months later, he died in a tragic helicopter
crash near Tawang.
The new G-plus-4 guest house built at a
cost of Rs 15 crore boasts of 47 rooms including dormitories with a capacity to
accommodate 201 guests.
Present on the occasion were Lhaygyala
Rinpoche, Abott of Namgyal Monastery, Dharmasala, Jetsun Pema, sister of the
14th Dalai Lama, Tawang MLA Tsering Tashi, DoKAA Chairman Jambey Wangdi,
representatives of the office of the Dalai Lama, officials of Gaya district
administration.
PTI
