Ven. Sanghasena, the founding president of Mahabodhi International Meditation Center (MIMC), Leh-Ladakh, visited Gujarat on June 27 and met with influential figures in Gujarat politics regarding organising the first International Festival of Buddhist Heritage of Gujarat tentatively scheduled to be held in the month of February, 2017.

During his brief visit to Gujarat, Ven. Sanghasena met top government officials of Gujarat-- Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat Smt. Anandiben Patel, Hon’ble Minister of Tourism, Gujarat, Shri Saurabhbhai Patel, Hon’ble Pilgrimage Minister, Gujarat, Shri Jadeja, Hon’ble Principal Secretary (I/C) Climate Change Department, Gujarat Govt. Shri S.J. Haider and Hon’ble Commissioner of Tourism and Managing Director, Government of Gujarat, Shri N. Srivastava.

Despite their busy schedule, the who’s who of Gujarat Government spared time from their busy schedule and appreciated and warmly accepted the proposal put forth by Ven. Sanghasena’s proposal to organise the first International Festival of Buddhist Heritage of Gujarat for the promotion and propagation of the rich Buddhist heritage of Gujarat at both national and international level next year in the month of February.  

Earlier, in 2014, Ven. Sanghasena met Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi ji, and expressed his deep concerns to Modi ji’s interest of reviving the Buddhist heritage in Gujarat. Since then Ven. Sanghasena has been working with keen interested to help Gujarat Govt. in the revival of centuries old Buddhist heritage in the State.        

The idea behind the Festival is to initiate the process of making these Buddhist sites as Living Heritage Sites to attract tourists to these important places and make Gujarat an important pilgrimage destination among the Buddhist devotees from South Asian countries.

It was the first step towards making Gujarat a Vibrant Buddhist Heritage center.