New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Mayadevi temple in Lumbini in Nepal, on Monday, as the first stop of his one-day visit to Lumbini. Prime Minister was accompanied by the Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his spouse Dr Arzu Rana Deuba. The leaders paid their respects at the Marker Stone inside the temple premises, which pinpoints the exact birth spot of Lord Buddha, and thereafter attended the puja conducted as per Buddhist rituals.
PM Modi, along with Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba, performed the shilanyaas ceremony for the construction of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage in the Lumbini Monastic Zone, Lumbini, Nepal, the MEA said. The Centre will be constructed by the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), New Delhi, on a plot allocated to IBC by the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT), under an agreement between IBC and LDT signed in March 2022.
After the shilanyaas ceremony, which was performed by monks belonging to three major Buddhist traditions, Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana, the two Prime Ministers also unveiled a model of the Centre. Once completed, the Centre will be a world-class facility welcoming pilgrims and tourists from all over the world to enjoy the essence of the spiritual aspects of Buddhism. It will be a modern building, NetZero compliant in terms of energy, water and waste handling, and will house prayer halls, meditation centres library, exhibition hall, cafeteria, offices and other amenities.
The two Prime Ministers also lit lamps near the Ashoka Pillar located adjacent to the temple. The pillar, which was erected by Emperor Ashoka in 249 BC, bears the first epigraphic evidence of Lumbini being the birthplace of Lord Buddha. Thereafter, the two Prime Ministers watered the Bodhi tree sapling from Bodh Gaya, which was gifted by PM Modi to Lumbini in 2014, and also signed the temple's visitor’s book.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Lumbini of Nepal this morning on an official visit, coinciding with the auspicious occasion of Buddha Jayanti. On arrival at Lumbini, the Prime Minister was received by Sher Bahadur Deuba, his spouse Dr Arzu Rana Deuba and several ministers from the Government of Nepal. A bilateral meeting between the two PMs is also scheduled to take place in which a comprehensive review of recent agreements will be discussed.
India attaches great importance to Buddhism and the country's Buddhist diplomacy is known worldwide. Most importantly, the Buddhist faith originated in India and the country possesses numerous sites of importance to the Buddhist faith, such as Bodh Gaya, Nalanda etc. Some MoUs on cooperation in cultural and educational sectors are expected to be exchanged between the two countries after the bilateral meeting. Later, PM Deuba will host a lunch in honour of Modi and his delegation. Prime Minister Modi will also attend the 2566th Buddha Jayanti celebrations and address a large gathering of people from Nepal and India, including Buddhist scholars and monks.
Significance of the visit
The visit is aimed at promoting further the close, comprehensive and-dimensional bilateral ties founded on the age-old connection of history, culture, tradition and religion. The visit is expected to strengthen people-to-people connections. During his recent visit to India, Nepalese PM Sher Bahadur Deuba visited New Delhi recently and Varanasi where he offered prayers at Kashi Vishwanath and Kal Bhairab temple and also laid the foundation of a shelter home for widows at the Nepali Pashupati Nath temple at Lalita Ghat in Varanasi. The upcoming visit of PM Modi will be a follow up to that visit.
This will be PM Modi’s fifth Merit to Nepal since 2014 when he was elected as the Prime Minister of India. It will be Prime Minister Modi’s first visit to Nepal after his re-election as PM of India in 2019. There have been high-level visits and official interactions between India and Nepal. In 2014, Prime Minister Modi visited Nepal twice – in August for momentum and in November for the SAARC Summit. The PM also paid a state visit to Nepal on May 11 and 12 in 2018 and a two-day visit for the BIMSTEC summit in 2018 from August 30 to 31.
In his previous visits to Nepal as the Prime Minister of India, he has visited places of religious significance that bind together the people of India and Nepal like- Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu and Janaki Mata temple in Janakpur Dham and Muktinath temple in Mustang. Likewise, at the invitation of PM Modi, the then Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba paid a state visit to India in August 2017 and again on April 1 to 3, 2022 once again after he became the PM of Nepal. The frequent high-level visits by the leaders of the two countries will help promote goodwill, trust, understanding and cooperation between the two countries and inject fresh momentum into multi-faceted bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation.
Read: Nepal PM offers prayer at Pashupatinath temple in Varanasi
