Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kushinagar International Airport in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India, with an international flight from Sri Lanka becoming the first to touch down at the new airport.
A delegation led by Minister for Youth and Sports Namal Rajapaksa, multiple MPs, hundreds of senior Buddhist monks from various sects and renowned temples around Sri Lanka, and hundreds of Buddhist pilgrims boarded the first flight UL 1147 chartered from SriLankan Airlines on Vap Full Moon Poya (20).
The flight departed the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake at around 5.20 a.m. on Vap Poya.
“The SriLankan Airlines flight to Kushinagar is a tribute to the Buddha. This area is the centre of the Buddha’s life. The Kushinagar International Airport is the result of decades of aspiration and effort. My happiness is two-fold today. This is the moment of fulfilling a commitment towards the people. All sections of society will benefit from the airport, and the vaccination drive in India will assure tourists. Pilgrims will also be benefited from air connectivity,” said Premier Modi after inaugurating the Kushinagar Airport, the third international airport in UP after Varanasi (another site for Buddhist pilgrims) and Lucknow.
Prime Minister Modi also added, “Under the Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (Dawn), SpiceJet and Truejet have been awarded flights to connect Kushinagar with Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gaya, Bareilly, Saharanpur and Hindon.”
The airport – built at an estimated cost of Indian Rs. 260 crore – will benefit domestic as well as international pilgrims by providing seamless connectivity to the Mahaparinirvana site of the Buddha. In addition, the airport will serve nearby districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (which too has many pilgrim sites) and is an important step in boosting investment and employment opportunities in the region.
Kushinagar is regarded as a focal point of India’s Buddhist Circuit, and the new international airport is expected to improve people-to-people connections between India and Sri Lanka significantly and also India and other Buddhist countries.
Kushinagar is one of the major pilgrimage centres for followers of Buddhism from all over the world. The Buddha is said to have given his last sermon here to the assembled Bhikkus and deities, and it is also the final resting place of Gautama Buddha where he attained Mahaparinirvana.
India’s Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiradhitya Scindia speaking at the inauguration ceremony, said that Kushinagar International Airport will boost travel to Buddha’s Mahaparinirvana site, and regular flights will start operating from November 26.
Minister Namal Rajapaksa presented a copy of Sinhala, Tamil and English translations of the Bhagavad Gita to Premier Modi. They also paid homage to the Sacred Kapilavastu Relics from the Waskaduwa Temple that were taken on board the SriLankan flight for expositions in India.
Moreover, to mark this important occasion, a symbolic gift in the form of two photographs was also presented to the people of India by the people of Sri Lanka. These two framed photographs, to be installed in the new Airport, feature two murals from the Kelaniya Rajamaha Vihara which depict the gift of Buddhism to Sri Lanka by India, painted by eminent Sri Lankan painter Solias Mendis.
(Pictures by Kamal Jayamanna)
Add new comment