Lucknow: When Lord Buddha completed one of his varsha vaas (rain retreats) in the heaven and decided to return to the earth, his disciples got three ladders of gold, silver and jewels that brought him to the city of Sankasya. In the modern times, the place is known as Sankisa — located on the outskirts of Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh.
During his recent visit to Farrukhabad, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had told the state tourism department to develop Sankisa village on the lines of Sarnath and Kapilvastu into a pilgrimage site.
He had also told officials to draw a route map from Sarnath to Gautam Budh Nagar linking Sankisa.
“It is a matter of pride that UP is home to majority of the places associated with Lord Buddha. The state government is already working on development of the Buddhist Circuit and Sankisa surely deserves to be included,” the CM had told officials, adding that “the place was also related to the Mahabharata.”
Scholars and historians, including Alexander Cunningham, have documented the importance Sankisa. The place is revered by the Buddhists across the world. In fact, countries like Sri Lanka, Japan, Myanmar, Bhutan, Tibet, Cambodia have already set up monasteries here.