Kala namak rice to be given to world guests as Buddha’s ‘prasad’
GORAKHPUR: International guests attending the inauguration ceremony of the Kushinagar airport on October 20, will be given kala namak rice as prasad of Lord Buddha, who took Mahaparinirvana (breathed his last) on this land.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the international airport – the 29th in India and fourth in Uttar Pradesh – near the site of Gautam Buddha’s Mahaparinirvana. Also present will be chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
Lord Buddha is said to have broken his fast by consuming kheer made of the rice on the banks of River Haryanvati and also gave it to his disciples. The Buddha is also said to have given the grains of this rice to farmers of the region and asked them to cultivate it. The GI (geographical indication)-tagged kala namak rice is famous for its rich aroma, taste and health benefits. The rice finds mention in the work of the first Chinese traveller and Buddhist monk Fa-Hien who visited India in the early 5th Century in search of holy Buddhist scripture.Now, when Kushinagar is set to host a global event with the arrival of international dignitaries and Buddhist monks, the authorities have come up with a plan to gift kala namak rice to guests in attractive, bright red bags with the quote ‘Lord Buddha, before his parinirvana from this holy place of Kushinagar, had given Buddhism to the world. He had also given his prasad, kala namak, to the farmers of this region in India. May his blessings be showered on the receiver of this gift’.
“It is indeed a big coincidence that the inauguration day (October 20) is also Buddh Purnima, which is a special and an auspicious day for Buddhists. As such, the prasad of Lord Gautam Buddha in the form of kala namak will be of great importance,” an official said.
In 2017, kala namak was listed for promotion under the ODOP (one district one product scheme) of Siddhartha Nagar, the place associated with the birth of Lord Buddha. ODOP along with other promotional efforts of the government paid off when Kala Namak variety, on the verge of extinction, saw a major jump in production from 10,000 hectares (in 2010) to 50,000 hectares (this year).
Meanwhile, the state government is making all efforts to make this global event a grand success and CM Yogi Adityanath is personally monitoring preparations for the event.
On Monday, local MPs, MLAs and leaders held meetings to make the programme successful while authorities were also seen racing against time to complete preparations. The airport will have direct flights from Buddhist countries including Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Korea, China and other nations with significant Buddhist following.