Chief minister Nitish Kumar visits Koteshwar Nath temple in Gaya on Thursday. Picture by Suman

Chief minister Nitish Kumar has ordered that all Buddhist sites between Bodhgaya and Sarnath (Uttar Pradesh) be documented to promote tourism.

At Bodhgaya, Prince Siddhartha attained enlightenment to become Buddha, while he delivered his first discourse at Sarnath after attaining enlightenment.

Nitish gave the direction during his visit to Bhuraha village under Gurua block of Gaya district on Thursday, the second day of his three-day Seva Yatra.

Situated around 63km southwest of the Gaya district headquarters, Bhuraha has a natural water source, a temple of Goddess Shakti, a Buddhist temple and a place called Dubbagarh.

Ruins related to Buddha are believed to have been buried under the ground at Dubbagarh.

The chief minister directed the officials to get Dubbagarh excavated and get a museum built at the place to ensure conservation of relics found from the site.

He said following proper documentation, the Buddhist sites falling in Bihar would be developed into tourist spots.

Nitish on Friday visited Mein village located on the border of Gaya and Jehanabad districts, around 40km northeast of the Gaya district headquarters.

The place draws its significance from the ancient Baba Koteshwar Nath temple, where a shivling is installed under a banyan tree. Its prop roots lean to the ground and have grown into separate trees.

The chief minister directed the officials to constitute a team of historians and procure details of Koteshwar Nath temple and the surrounding area before gathering relevant documents.

He also directed officials to construct an archaeolo- gical shade-cum-museum at Mein.

The art and culture department would develop the site. Nitish directed that officials from the Forest Research Institute (FRI) at Dehradun be brought to the village to treat the tree.

At present, FRI scientists are treating the Bodhi tree at the world heritage Mahabodhi Mahavihara campus in Bodhgaya.

After returning from Mein, the chief minister conducted a review of the ongoing development schemes in Magadh division comprising of Gaya, Jehanabad, Aurangabad, Nawada and Arwal districts.

A press release issued by the public relations department said the chief minister directed that the funds under MPLAD (Member of Parliament local area development) or Chief Minister’s Area Development Scheme be utilised for replacement of burnt electric transformers.

Nitish has stressed that a weekly review of the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act be held in at least one block in all the districts of the state every Wednesday.