Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led state-level celebrations of Gautam Buddha’s birth anniversary on Monday, offering prayers and meditating at the Buddha Smriti Park in Patna. In a ceremony steeped in spiritual symbolism, the Chief Minister paid homage to the sacred relics of Lord Buddha, the revered Bodhi tree from Bodh Gaya, and saplings of the Bodhi tree brought from Sri Lanka’s Anuradhapura and the Anand Bodhi tree.
Accompanied by Buddhist monks, CM Nitish performed a parikrama (circumambulation) of the Pataliputra Karuna Stupa, offered prayers at the relics, and joined the monks in collective meditation, praying for world peace and the prosperity and harmony of Bihar and India.
The Chief Minister also visited the Vipassana Centre within the park, where he reviewed the arrangements and engaged in meditation. Expressing their gratitude, the centre’s operators thanked Kumar for supporting the construction and upkeep of the facility, which has become an important space for spiritual seekers in the city.
Senior members of the Bihar government, including Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, and Urban Development Minister Jeevesh Kumar, joined the Chief Minister at the event. MPs Sanjay Kumar Jha and Devesh Chandra Thakur, Patna Mayor Sita Sahu, and senior officials including Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary Deepak Kumar and Patna District Magistrate Dr Chandrashekhar Singh, were also present.
Later in the day, CM Nitish returned to his official residence at 1, Anne Marg, where he continued his personal observances by offering prayers to the Bodhi tree and a Buddhist rock installed there, once again invoking blessings for the state’s well-being and global peace.
