Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake visited Bodh Gaya in Bihar on Tuesday and prayed at the Mahabodhi Temple.
The Unesco world heritage site marks the place where Siddhartha Gautam attained enlightenment to become the “Buddha” (the enlightened one).
Dissanayake was accompanied by Sri Lankan minister of foreign affairs Vijitha Herath and labour minister Anil Jayantha Fernando.
Dissanayake was welcomed by Bihar ministers Prem Kumar, Santosh Kumar Suman and other senior officials at the Gaya International Airport from where he went straight to the 1,500-year-old temple.
During his visit to the temple, Dissanayake also offered tribute to the Bodhi Tree, which is a direct descendant of the original peepal tree under which Buddha had his enlightenment. It was brought as a sapling from Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka in 1881 after the previous tree was uprooted by a storm.
The Sri Lankan President is on a three-day state visit to India. He landed in Delhi on Sunday and met President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
Dissanayake, who is on his first official foreign trip after being elected the President in September, posted on X: “This morning (17), I had the privilege of visiting Bodh Gaya, the sacred site where Prince Siddhartha attained enlightenment. I paid homage to the Mahabodhi Temple and Sri Mahabodhi Tree and offered floral tributes to the statue of Anagarika Dharmapala. Grateful for the blessings received by the general secretary of the Maha Bodhi Society of India, venerable Pelwatte Seewalee Thero and the head of the Sarnath Centre, venerable Rathmalwala Sumiththananda Thero.”
Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee’s member-secretary Mahashweta Maharathi was present during Dissanayake’s visit.
“The Sri Lanka President was most interested in Bodh Gaya and the Mahabodhi Temple. He was very respectful towards the temple, monks and the traditions,” Maharathi told The Telegraph.