Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa saddened by Bodh Gaya explosions: Official

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was on Sunday shocked and dismayed by the news of serial explosions in internationally renowned Mahabodhi temple in India, a place of religious significance for the Buddhists.


"President Rajapaksa was shocked and dismayed by the news," Presidential Media Coordinator Wijayananda Herath said.

The official said the President had spoken to the chief incumbent of the Mahabodhi temple and also directed both the external affairs ministry and the High Commission in Delhi to probe and report to him.

Nine serial explosions on Sunday rocked the temple town of Bodh Gaya in Bihar, including four in the Mahabodhi Temple complex, injuring two monks.

Thousands of people from Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka visit Bodh Gaya on pilgrimage, the site where Lord Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment or the Buddhahood.

Earlier in the year, the offices of the Mahabodhi Society, the administrative body associated with Bodh Gaya based in Chennai, came under attack by suspected Tamil elements.