Patna, Jan. 8: This Saturday, you can follow in 'the footsteps of the Buddha' at Rajgir by participating in the Heritage Walk being organised by the tourism department.

The 13.5km walk from Jethian in Gaya to Venuvan in Rajgir, Nalanda, is being organised as part of the ongoing Rajgir Mahotsav.

To encourage more and more people to participate in the event, the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC), a wing of the tourism department has also made arrangements for free-transport from Patna on the day of walk.

Extending his invitation for the walk, Deepak Prasad, principal secretary in the tourism department, told The Telegraph on Thursday: 'The walk is an initiative to revive the walking pilgrimage as a new tool to awaken the Buddhist heritage in Bihar. Walking on this path would have huge spiritual significance for Buddhist devotees as well as non-Buddhists who believe in the Buddha's teachings. He took this path to come to ancient Rajgriha from Jethian on the invitation of then Magadha Empire king Bimbisar. It is a fresh imitative and I would like to extend my invitation to all to participate in the walk.'

Deepak added that since the walk stretches to 13.5km, sufficient arrangements for snacks and drinking water have been made along the path. 'The walk would be led by monks from different Buddhist sects and there would be halts at two points - first after 4km and the second after 8km,' said Deepak.

The idea to revive the path followed by Buddha from Jethian-Venuvan valley was initially floated by Deepak Anand, a member of the Bihar Virasat Vikas Samiti in 2010.

'The Buddha-Path is clearly mentioned in the travelogues of Chinese monk-scholar Xuanzang in the seventh century AD. The path through the valley connecting Rajgir with Jethian was once an important pilgrimage path connecting erstwhile Indrasailaguha (present day Parwati), Yasthivana (present day Jethian), Tapovana and Sambodhi (Bodhgaya). It is because of such historical and spiritual significance that there is a need to develop this path,' said Anand.

Former chief minister Nitish Kumar has frequented the Buddha walk in Jethian-Rajgir valley. A walk on the Buddha Path was organised on December 13, 2014, by International Tipitaka Chanting Council (ITCC), in association with Nav Nalanda Mahavihar, Nalanda, Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee, International Buddhist Confederation and Sarvodaya group. The dense Jethian-Venuvan valley spans around 18km and falls under the jurisdiction of Nalanda as well as Gaya districts.

Split half way through the middle, a 9km stretch comes under Gaya district, and the remaining 9km is in Nalanda. British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham identified the site in 1871 and then Auriel Stein carried the work forward by identifying various spots mentioned by Xuanzang in his travelogue.