Bhubaneswar, April 12: The state is home to about 320 Buddhist sites but they have not been promoted well on national and international platforms, said experts on Buddhist culture.

The experts took part in the 4th Kalinga International Buddhist Conclave, which concluded here today.

Rasheed Shaik, managing director of Yet To See travel company has operations in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. He said:"Buddhist sites in Odisha have been overshadowed by the Puri-Konark pilgrimage tourism. Frankly, we had no idea that Odisha had such huge prospects for Buddhist tourism."

The three-day conclave witnessed participation from around 200 international and national scholars of Buddhism and heritage, tour operators, monks from various monasteries, travel bloggers and writers. The aim was to highlight the rich Buddhist heritage in the state through scholastic deliberations and discussions. He added that there was a need for online promotion of the tourist sites to attract more tourists. "The website of Odisha Tourism should be developed in such a way that visitors get a detailed description of the Buddhist sites and the interesting facts about it so that we can urge our customers to visit the site and thus their interest can be enhanced," he added.

The Buddhist monastery complex of Vajrayana sect in Ratnagiri, Udayagiri and Lalitgiri in Jajpur district has around 50 Buddhist sites. Besides these famous sites in the district, archaeologists have also found Buddhist remains at Langudi, Radhanagar and Aragarh. The visitors pointed out that even as thousands of tourists from East Asia, Southeast Asia and Nepal visit Bodh Gaya every year, a few of them come to Odisha.

They were surprised that none of the Buddhist sites had been positioned on the world tourism map unlike those in Bihar, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh. Sumit Mathur, director of the New Delhi-based Top Travel and Tours, said infrastructure at the sites needed improvement. He suggested that the relics be put on public display and called for better display of the relics.

"There is need to spend on improving the facilities available near the Buddhist sites including hotels, tour guides and restoration work. A number of people practising Buddhsim are not aware of the rich legacy of Buddhism in Odisha. The government needs to promote these ancient cultures. It will take time but I believe things will get better with time," he added.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik also attended the valedictory ceremony and appealed to stakeholders of Buddhist culture to promote Odisha's rich heritage. "The state was the focal point for spread of Buddhism. Our aim is to bring to light the rich Buddhist legacy of the state," he said.

Tourism director Nitin Jawale said the state government has several programmes to promote the Buddhist circuit in the state. "We aim to provide quality infrastructure services by the next one year at the Buddhist sites. Also, we plan to take up promotional activities in six South Asian countries in a big way," he said. A huge statue of Buddha will also be built in the state.

Almost 30 years ago it was excavated from the famous Lalitgiri Buddhist site, the holy tooth of Buddha will soon find its place in the State Museum for public viewing.

It will be finally be relocated from the strong room of the Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) Bhubaneswar circle office to a museum near Lalitgiri by the end of December.

"I will revisit the place to see the relic. It was also a delight to visit the marvellous monastery at Udayagiri. The structure is huge and intricately carved. It proves that Buddhism flourished as a state religion in the ancient Kalingan kingdom," said a researcher from Myanmar, Vebuppu Lla. During the conclave, the delegates visited a number of Buddhist sites and also took part in mass chanting at Dhauli peace pagoda today.