Itkhori Mahotsav ends with sweet memories

Itkhori Mahotsav, a three-day long effort to bring Itkhori on the list of important religious tourist spots of the country, concluded with colorful events on Saturday late night. It was a joint effort of Jharkhand State Government, conscious denizens of old Hazaribagh district and religious leaders of these three communities which gave it a big canvas and proved successful to highlight Itkhori.

On February 19 in his inaugural speech CM Raghubar Das had said that the festival will prove a milestone for Jharkhand tourism industry as all eyes will turn towards Itkhori, a name which was coined during the Buddhist era. The CM has assured that this grand festival and Deoghar Sharvani mela will be declared as State festivals in the next Cabinet meeting.

After the inauguration of the mahotsav culture programs were organized in the evening everyday which were enjoyed by the tourists in large numbers. The tourist enjoyed every moment they spent here and while going back many of them promised to come back and to propagate about this unique historical cum religious tourist spot among their friends and relatives.

On the second day a seminar was organized by the organizer of the Mahotsav. The seminar was inaugurated by famous Buddhist historian Bhante Tissavare, Kumar Yashwant Naryan Singh, Rishibala and Sunita Devi jointly by lightening the lamp. Addressing the seminar VC VBU Prof. Gurdeep Singh said that Itkhori is the important place for the point of religion and tourism. The superintendent of Archeology department HN Nayak said that with the development of this place as a tourist spot, local youths will get employment and the standard of living of local people will also go up.

Dr. Iftekhar Alam, Ex-HOD History, VBU, said that it is the place where mother of Prince Siddharth (Gautam Buddha) after failing in her efforts to bring back his son home had said Iti Khoi (this is the place where I lost my son) and hence it was named Itkhori.

The three days long Itkhori Mahotsav concluded last night with a special program inaugurated by Chatra MP Sunil Kumar Singh. On this occasion the MP said that we will try our best to connect Itkhori to Buddha circuit. This will also connect the famous place of religion significance of three religions to the holiest place of Buddhist, Bodh Gaya.

Itkhori is located in Chatra district, 20 km from district headquarter and 40 km from Hazaribagh town, it is just 20 km from Chouparan situated at NH2. 

The place was well-known for locals due to the famous Bhadrakali Temple since long but the proofs of its association with Buddhism and Jainism in archaeological excavation work going on here has made it a new center of attraction for the tourists and archaeologists of entire country and neighboring countries.