Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the “Shilanyas” ceremony for the construction of a unique centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage within the Lumbini Monastic Zone during his official visit to Lumbini tomorrow on the occasion of Vaishakha Buddha Purnima.

At Lumbini, the PM will visit the sacred Mayadevi temple to offer prayers. He will also deliver an address at a Buddha Jayanti event organised by the Lumbini Development Trust under the aegis of the Government of Nepal.

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The construction of the unique ‘India International Centre for Buddhist Culture & Heritage’ with a universal appeal will be undertaken by the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), India under the auspices of the Lumbini Development Trust with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture. The Buddhist Centre will be the first ‘Net Zero Emission’ building in Nepal.

Also, on the occasion, the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) is hosting a colourful programme for the Vaishakha Buddha Purnima Divas celebrations in New Delhi. The highlight will be the screening of a film on PM Modi’s foundation- stone laying ceremony, earlier in the day for the Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage at Lumbini, Nepal.

The event will start at 2:00 pm with Chanting from various Buddhist sites played on the screen.

The Chief Guest for the event will be KirenRijiju, Minister of Law and Justice while the Guest of Honour will be G. Kishan Reddy, Minister for Culture, Tourism and DoNER with Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Culture being the special guest.

The significance of the timing of the PM’s visit to Nepal is to coincide with the inauguration of Lumbini Buddhist Centre with the Holy Vaishakha Buddha Purnima Divas. The day is recognised as the thrice blessed day that marks the Birth, Enlightenment and Mahaparinirvana of Lord Buddha. While Buddha was born in Lumbiniin Nepal, he attained enlightenment in Bodhgaya in Bihar, preached his first sermon at Sarnath and attained Nirvana in Kushinagar, in Uttar Pradesh.

Lumbini is the holy place where according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mahamayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama at around 623 B.C. Lord Buddha, was born in the famous gardens of Lumbini, which soon became a place of pilgrimage.

Among the pilgrims was the Indian emperor Ashoka, who erected one of his commemorative pillars there. The site is now being developed as a Buddhist pilgrimage centre, where the archaeological remains associated with the birth of the Lord Buddha form a central feature.

Some of the other Viharas and Monasteries in the area are Myanmar’s Golden Temple, Tara Foundation Temple, The Sri Lanka Monastery, the Korean Temple (Dae Sung Shakya), the Cambodian Monastery and the Vietnamese Phat QuocTu Temple.

Lumbini is one of the holiest and most important places in Nepal as a result of which it was included in the list of World Heritage areas by UNESCO.