Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Kushinagar International Airport in eastern Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, putting the prominent Buddhist pilgrimage site on the world tourism map.
The inaugural flight from Sri Lanka will land at the airport on Wednesday with relics of the Buddha from the Waskaduwa Sri Subuddhi Rajvihara Temple which will be open to the public for veneration.
Over 100 Buddhist monks, including anunayakas of all four orders of Buddhism in Sri Lanka – Asigiriya, Amarapura, Ramanya and Malwatta – will accompany the relics of the Buddha on the inaugural flight.
Namal Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan Minister of Youth and Sports and the son of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, will also lead a five-member ministerial delegation to Kushinagar on the occasion.
