Gaya: Members of the Gaya Ji Ramayana Circuit Jodo Sangharsh Samiti have urged the Centre to include Gaya in the Ramayana Circuit under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. District Congress netas on Friday alleged that the state govt and local public representatives failed to effectively present the district’s claim for inclusion.Samiti convener and Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee representative Bijoy Kumar Mithu said the Centre had identified 15 major destinations across nine states and Nepal under the proposed Ramayana Circuit, with Sitamarhi, Buxar and Darbhanga from Bihar figuring on the list.“Despite its religious and historical significance, Gaya has been left out,” Mithu said. He pointed out that the internationally renowned Sita Kund temple in Gaya is associated with the belief that Lord Ram, Goddess Sita and Lakshman performed pinddaan for King Dasharath on the banks of the Falgu river.Mithu, along with district Congress president Rajnish Kumar ‘Jhunna’, vice-president Babulal Prasad Singh, Ram Pramod Singh and other party workers, has appealed to Union tourism minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to include Gaya in the Ramayana Circuit.They argued that Gaya’s inclusion would strengthen religious tourism, enhance the district’s visibility on the national pilgrimage map and provide a boost to the local economy.
