Varanasi: Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is on a State visit to India from February 8 to 11 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arrived Varanasi on Sunday.
After visiting the temples of Hindu deities, the day-long pilgrimage of Sri Lankan PM ended at Buddhist destination Sarnath, where Lord Buddha had delivered his first sermons. In the visitors’ book of Moolgandha Kuti Vihara at Sarnath he wrote, “I am happy to visit the pilgrimage site of the followers of Lord Buddha. I feel fortunate. I got inner peace.”
Rajapaksa performed puja at the sanctum sanctorum of Kashi Vishwanath temple. After puja UP minister of state (independent charge) for tourism and religious affairs Neelkanth Tiwari presented a replica of Lord Vishwanath and shawl to him. The divisional commissioner Deepak Agrawal and district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma apprised him of the proposed Kashi Vishwanath Dham (Corridor) project. From Kashi Vishwanath temple, he went to Kaal Bhairo temple to offer prayer.
Before going to Sarnath had a brief stopover at Hotel Taj. While moving to Sarnath he was warmly greeted by people standing along the roadsides with the flags of Sri Lanka and India.
At Sarnath he lit the lamp and performed circumambulation of the Bodhi Tree. Later, he visited the temple of Mahabodhi Society of India where Buddhist priests kept Buddha’s relics on his head. Bhikshu Medhankar Thero performed `Paritran Deshna Path’ for him. The vice president of the Mahabodhi Society of India Prof Ram Mohan Pathak presented him traditional ‘khata’.
From Buddhist temple he went to Dhamekh Stupa, where he was welcomed by the general secretary of Mahabodhi Society of India, P Shivli Thero and officials of Archaeological Survey of India. He saw the he ruins of Buddhist site and also the albums of photographs of excavation conducted between 1835 and 1929. He went to the ASI museum to see the ancient artefacts. He also visited Ind-Sri Lanka Jambudweep temple and met K Siri Sumedha Thero.
