International Buddhist meet in Odisha from Feb 13

In a bid to promote the state's Buddhist tourism circuits at the international level, the Odisha government has decided to hold the 3rd International Buddhist Conference at Bhubaneswar from Feb 13, said Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda Wednesday.

Panda said the three-day event will be attended by about 150 Buddhist scholars and monks from across the world, including Japan and Sri Lanka.

They would participate in the conference to deliberate on Buddhist history and culture.

The minister said the delegates will discuss Buddhist sites in India and Odisha and the tourism potential in the sector.

There will be an exclusive business-to-business session for the tour operators to attract tourists to the Buddhist heritage sites.

While there are over 324 Buddhist sites in Odisha, the government has earmarked Lalitgiri, Udayagiri and Ratnagiri as the Diamond Triangle.