Bodhgaya, July 7: The low intensity blasts in Bodhgaya triggered cancellation of hotel bookings in bulk, serving a jolt to the hospitality sector.

Hotel managers started getting cancellation calls from across the globe soon after the news of nine blasts in the Buddhist tourism hub spread. Some of the callers even enquired if the Mahabodhi temple was intact.

Sanjay Kumar, the manager of Prince Hotel near the temple, scratched his head while going through the mails cancelling the bookings in his hotel. “At least 40 clients from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Japan cancelled their bookings. They were booked from the beginning of October. We have not received any fresh booking today,” Sanjay told The Telegraph.

Sanjay and many other hotel owners and managers complained that they had been getting mails cancelling online bookings after the news of the blasts spread.

“The blasts have hardly caused much damage to life and property. But it has served a jolt to the hospitality sector. I have received several calls from England, United States, Japan, China and Thailand enquiring about the safety of the shrine, people and shops,” said a restaurant manager.

There are altogether 50 hotels in Bodhgaya. “All of them are booked to their capacity from October to February. The hotel owners do a brisk business in the peak season, charging double or even three times more than the usual rate,” said a restaurant owner, apprehending that the hotel owners would suffer a huge loss in the season ahead.

The local businessmen opined that the blasts had caused little damage to the life and property in Bodhgaya but had triggered fear among tourists all over the world.

The attack on the Mahabodhi temple has shocked the monks, people in the hospitality business, guides and residents alike because it was never made a target despite being barely 30-40km from Dalelchak-Bagharua, Senari, Mein-Barsimha, Laxmanpur Bathe, Narayanpur and Sankarbigha, Barachatti and Goh in the erstwhile Gaya district (now divided into Jehanabad, Aurangabad, Arwal and Nawada), which witnessed a spate of clashes between the Maoists and the Ranvir Sena. At least 500 people were killed in violence between the Ranvir Sena’s dismantled landlords’ militia and the rebels in the past two decades.

“Neither the Sena nor the Maoists ever targeted the Mahabodhi shrine,” said Bhikhu Chalinda, the chief priest of the Mahabodhi temple. “Even the distressed souls came here in search of peace,” he added.

Some senior monks said they took the Intelligence Bureau (IB) alert on the possible terrorist attack on the Mahabodhi shrine casually. “We had read about the IB alert in newspapers, but did not take it seriously because it was hard for us to believe that the Land of Buddha would ever be subjected to violence,” said a monk.

“The blasts though have not caused much physical damage but they have given a body blow to our trust in the place,” said Ganauri, the owner of Narita Studio and an Internet café near the Mahabodhi temple.