Be sure to add an evening visit to Maya Sarovar to your itinerary on your next trip to Bodhgaya.

A sound-and-light laser show with dancing musical fountains at Maya Sarovar (pond) around 300m west of the World Heritage Mahabodhi Mahavihara would provide visitors a chance to get enlightened about the life of Lord Buddha.

The 45-minute show, the trials of which have started, would portray the life history of Buddha - right from his birth till he attained mahaparinirvana (enlightenment). The sound-and-light show at Maya Sarovar is the third facility of its kind to be launched in the state after the ones at Buddha Smriti Park and Gol Ghar in Patna.

Nilesh Agarwal, a resident of Pachhatti mohalla in Bodhgaya, said: "It is a new thing for the people of Bodhgaya. I have watched the show. Describing the life history of Buddha on water screen in 45 minutes is a very good effort. A large number of foreign tourists visit Bodhgaya throughout the year and they would certainly like it."

The Bangalore-based Prachin Bharat Tourism Technologies Private Limited runs the shows at both the places in Patna.

In Bodhgaya, another Bangalore-based company BNA Technology Consulting has installed the equipment, including laser machine, projector, computer, four big sound boxes, generator set and the fountain on the Maya Sarovar premises.

In fact, the sound-and-light laser show at Maya Sarovar is a project of the tourism department that was announced in 2011. Some technical reasons pushed back the original 2013 deadline.

BNA Technology has now started demonstration shows on the initiative of the tourism department. Ajay Kashyap, an official of the tourism department in Bodhgaya, confirmed that the show is being organised at Maya Sarovar in the evening.

"The show would run for 45 minutes during which the life history of Buddha would be shown in animated form on a water screen. The replica of the World Heritage Mahabodhi Mahavihara would be created on the water screen with the water fountain," Kashyap said, elaborating on the show.

The sound-and-light laser show with musical fountain would be operated with the help of a laser machine, a computer and a projector. A water screen of semi-circular shape is formed with the help of water fountains of different colours that go up to a height of 25ft in the air. The animation film would be screened on the water screen with the help of the computer and the projector. The story would be narrated from the background through four big sound boxes.

The demonstration show at Maya Sarovar is yet to be formally inaugurated. But it is being run every evening from 6pm to 6.45pm since April 16, which visitors can enjoy for free. There is a proposal to hold three shows every evening.

Sources said seating arrangement for 100 viewers would be made at Maya Sarovar. There is also a proposal to price tickets for Rs 20 or Rs 30 per viewer for the show. The boundary walls of the Maya Sarovar campus are also to be raised to beef up security.