By Joymala Bagchi

Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh) [India] March 1 (ANI): Buddhist monks in Kushinagar, an international Buddhist pilgrimage centre that will go to polls on March 3 in the sixth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, have urged the state government to start a Buddhist University here.

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Kushinagar is the centre point of the Buddhist circuit. The district has more than 50 monasteries of which Kushinagar itself has 16 monasteries.

Buddhist monks that ANI spoke with said that they are studying the Pali language at different universities be it in Varanasi or Noida as they have no other options for postgraduate studies.

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"There are colleges that offer a few postgraduate courses but there is no Buddhist University here," he said.

Bhikkhu Alok from Srilanka Buddh vihar monastery, Kushinagar is studying Pali as a PhD research scholar from Pali Department, Banaras Hindu University.

Bhikkhu Alok said, "There should be a university along with proper faculty for Buddhist language, philosophy, history and other courses associated with not only Buddhism but Indian civilization also. When we are staying in Kushinagar which holds such significance, why do we need to do postgraduate courses from other universities?"

"Gautam Buddha University in Greater Noida gets international students from Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar. Kushinagar which is directly associated with Buddhism should get also get one," he adds.

Kushinagar is an international Buddhist pilgrimage centre as Buddhists believe that Gautam Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana after his death here.

The monasteries want Kushinagar to be developed on an international standard from a tourism perspective as that will help boost the economy.

Many spiritually inclined tourists from other countries come to Kushinagar.

"Tourism has been largely affected by the pandemic and this has impacted the local economy," said another Buddhist monk from Bhadant Gyaneshwar Buddha Vihar monastery on the condition of anonymity.

Bhikkhu Sangh Adhyaskh Bhante Mahendra, from Bhadant Gyaneshwar Buddha Vihar monastery, Kushinagar said, "We want Kushinagar to be developed from an international perspective."

There is also a demand for buses connecting religious places such as Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Lumbini. Lumbini, Sarnath and Gaya are among these religious places.

In 2017 polls, this constituency was won by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In 2017, Rajnikant Mani Tripathi of BJP won the seat by defeating Rajesh Pratap Rav Alias Banti Bhaiya from Bahujan Samaj Party with a margin of 48,103 votes.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Vijay Kumar Dubey won from Kushinagar Lok Sabha (MP) seat with a margin of 337,560 votes by defeating NP Kushwaha Alias Nathuni Prasad Kushwaha from Samajwadi Party.

PN Pathak from BJP is pitted against Rajesh Pratap Rao of SP this time.

There are 14 blocks and 1,620 villages here. (ANI)

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