Virus Keeps Nirvana-Seekers, Pilgrims Away From Buddha's Land As Hotels Languish

Bodh Gaya has been desolate ever since the lockdown was enforced. The pilgrims, tourists, nirvana-seekers and mendicants who frequented the holy town, where Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment more than two and a half millennia ago, are missing. Their absence has dealt a crippling blow to the tourism industry that sustained the local economy for centuries. 바카라�The virus has ruined the tourism ecosystem,바카라� says Sanjay Singh, general secretary, Bodh Gaya Hotel Association. 바카라�There are about 40 large and 70-80 smaller hotels in the town, but these have remained shut for over three months.바카라�

 Singh, who owns Delta International Hotel, adds that the government has all­owed hotels to reopen, but business remains negligible because of lack of visitors. 바카라�We are neither getting dom­estic tourists nor foreign ones, who were the backbone of our revenues. Worse, there are no corporate clients or wedding bookings because of social distancing norms. I don바카라�t see any ray of hope. I doubt things will improve soon,바카라� he says. 바카라�People are wary of hotels and we are apprehensive about customers.바카라�

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The pandemic hit the tourism sector when Bihar, especially the Buddhist circuit, was hoping for a boom. Last year, more than 3.5 crore tourists visited the state. Of them, almost 11 lakh were from abroad. Almost half of the foreigners visited Bodh Gaya in 2019. In 2018, more than a million foreign tourists came to Bihar. Their number will, of course, come down drastically this year. 바카라�The scenario is bleak,바카라� says Arun Kumar Ojha, a travel industry expert based out of Bodh Gaya. 바카라�Only a few hot­els have reopened. Most hotels have reduced the salaries of their staff, sent them on furlough or even retrenched them. Nobody knows whether things will look up once the tourist season beg­ins in October.바카라�

The corona scourge struck towards the end of the October-March tourist season earlier this year. Most visitors from Sri Lanka, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and other countries with a large Buddhist population usually visit Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, and other places in Bihar바카라�s Buddhist circuit. Thousands of Hindu pilgrims, mostly Indians, throng the fortnight-long Pitripaksha Mela, held on the banks of Falgu river in Gaya district before Durga Puja every year. However, given that there is no let-up in the number of COVID-19 cases till now, locals are worried about its impact on the mela this year.

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 바카라�Even if things improve, I don바카라�t think more than 25 per cent of the tourists will visit Bodh Gaya this year,바카라� says Arvind Kumar, member of Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee, which oversees the management of the Mahabodhi temple, one of Bihar바카라�s two UNESCO World Heritage Sites (The ruins of Nalanda are the second). While Bodh Gaya remains the holiest city for Buddhists, Kumar says the problem is that 90 per cent of foreign tourists come to the Buddhist circuit in large groups. 바카라�It is not like Goa or hill stations, where couples go for honeymoons or small parties visit for sightseeing. Social distancing norms will deter pilgrims from coming here.바카라�

바카라�Some hotels have reopened, but you can find their receptionists and managers dozing off, waiting for elusive customers,바카라� says Kumar. With no signs of an immediate recovery, the locals dependent on tourism are seeking a bailout package from the government. 바카라�So far, we have not received any incentives, but I hope that officials will do something to resuscitate the domestic tourism sector, as they did in Japan,바카라� says Singh.

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It is not just hoteliers and tour operators at the receiving end바카라�the shutdown has robbed small vendors of their livelihoods. 바카라�They looked forward to the arr­ival of busloads of students on mandatory educational trips organised under the Mukhyamantri Paribhraman Yojana,바카라� says Ojha. 바카라�Those trips have stopped because schools remain closed.바카라� State tourism officials believe that domestic tourists will start returning to the Buddhist circuit before foreigners and help bring the industry back on track. Locals, however, aren바카라�t as optimistic. As a quote attributed to Buddha goes, 바카라�The past is already gone. The future is not yet here.바카라�   

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