During a daylong visit to Lumbini in Nepal, PM Modi will break ground on the ‘India International Centre for Buddhist Culture & Heritage.’ The visit will take place during the Buddha Jayanti celebrations.
Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born in Lumbini around the year 623 B.C. He later became renowned as the Buddha after attaining enlightenment in the Bihar area of Bodhgaya.
PM Modi will lay the foundation
PM Modi will attend the shilanyas [foundation stone laying] ceremony for the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage, as well as offer prayers at the Mayadevi temple, which is devoted to the Buddha’s mother. He will also speak at a Buddha Jayanti event hosted by the Lumbini Development Trust of the Nepalese government.
Buildings with zero emissions
According to an official press release, the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), a ‘grantee body’ under the Ministry of Culture, will be in charge of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage. The IBC was established on November 2, 2012, with the goal of spreading and preserving the Buddha’s teachings and heritage throughout the world, particularly in India’s immediate vicinity. According to an official release from India, the Buddhist centre would be Nepal’s first “net zero-emission” structure.
Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nepal’s Prime Minister, is expected to attend the Lumbini event. Mr. Modi gave a sapling of the Mahabodhi tree of Bodhgaya to the Mayadevi temple, according to Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra. Following the rituals, both sides will hold a delegation-level meeting.
Mr. Kwatra said during a briefing last Friday that the two Prime Ministers will “draw on their positive meetings in Delhi, with an aim to further increasing our common understanding and cooperation in numerous areas, including hydropower development, partnership, and connectivity.”
On Monday, the IBC in Delhi will commemorate Buddha Jayanti, which will be led by Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju. According to the official news release, “IBC has been actively involved in engaging Buddhist organizations in Nepal and has a solid relationship with several top Buddhist monks.”
PM Modi’s visit to Lumbini comes just two days after Nepal began the process of holding local elections across the country, which will lead to a general election by the end of the year.