BANGKOK – An eminent Buddhist scholar accompanying an Indian tourism promotion delegation has called on the millions of Buddhists in Thailand and worldwide to visit India both to encourage the revival of Buddhism in the Hindu-majority country as well as to retrace the Buddha’s footsteps for a more personal experience of his teachings.

The point-blank appeal was made by Mr. Shantum Seth, a prominent member of a 19-strong Indian delegation during a May 9-13 roadshow of Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Addressing a packed hall of invited Thai travel agents after a visit earlier in the day to the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Thai capital’s most visited tourist attractions, Mr Seth said he could feel an immediate connection to the people of Thailand and the atmosphere he experienced. “With the devotion that people have, you must visit these places (the Buddhist sites in India). If you die without visiting these places, you will have missed something very important in your life. It’s like going on the Hajj.”