Bhubaneswar, Aug. 26: A new era is set to unfold in the state’s tourism scenario in the wake of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) agreeing to the state government’s proposal to hand over a rare Buddha relic lying in its Bhubaneswar circle office strong room for 27 years.

The relic, believed to be a tooth of Lord Buddha, will initially be displaced at the State Museum and later taken to Lalitgiri, where it was discovered in 1985.

Welcoming the move, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha chairman J.K. Mohanty said: “The proposal to display the relic linked to Buddha will definitely boost the flow of tourists to Odisha, especially those interested in Buddhist sites.”

“This development will definitely attract tourists from Southeast Asian nations and other countries from where a large number of Buddhist followers come to India on annual tours to see the relic sites. We need to publicise the Buddhist potential of Odisha in the national and international arena,” said Debasish Mohapatra of K7 Travels.

“Odisha Tourism should organise special sessions with tour operators dealing with tourists from Asian countries and organise road shows for Buddhist sites in the nations concerned so that people come to Odisha when they visit other important Buddhist sites in north and central India. The proposed link with the Mahaparinirvan Express to Buddhist sites such as Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri, Udayagiri and Langudi would also ensure better tourist inflow,” Mohapatra said.

Odisha Tourism had already taken up the issue with the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited to include the Buddhist circuit of Odisha in the Mahaparinirvan Express route that links major Buddhist sites such as Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Nalanda, Rajgir, Kushinagar and Lumbini. The special train starts from New Delhi.

The relic, which is in the possession of the ASI, was found during an excavation at Lalitgiri of Jajpur district in 1985. It was found inside a small gold casket encased in multiple caskets of silver, steatite and Khandolite. State tourism minister Maheswar Mohanty had a meeting with Union tourism minister Selja Kumari and senior ASI officials in New Delhi and the state government persuaded the national conservation body to hand them over the relic so that it could be displayed.

“The design for the display of the Buddhist relic in a protected manner is being prepared. An architect has been engaged to prepare the design. The architect and the state’s culture director will visit Bodhgaya in Bihar to have a first hand idea,” said Mohanty. Another relic, believed to be that of Lord Buddha, is on display at Bodhgaya. The minister assured that there would be adequate provision of space for worship of the relic by the Buddhist devotees.

“We are planning to conduct road shows in Taiwan and other Southeast Asian nations to woo Buddhist tourists,” the minister said.

Srikant Mishra of Alternative Tours, another city-based operator, said: “The promotion of Buddhist sites is a welcome step, but the state government should also facilitate a holistic approach towards tourists and allow tribal tours as the tourists coming from European nations, US and other regions also constitute a major chunk of the tourist inflow.”

A Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha member said the promotion of rural tourism could also ensure better tourist inflow, especially in the coastal districts. From the Prachi valley to Chilika lake and beyond, there is a huge potential to engage tourists in discovering a new Odisha through an array of nature trails, traditional crafts, temple architecture and water sports.

Odisha Tourism sources said around 53,000 foreign tourists came to Odisha last year. “If the city airport is made into an international one, the number of tourists will surely go up with after the Buddha relic is put on display,” a tour operator said.