PM Modi visits Mayadevi Temple, laying the foundation stone of India International Center for Buddhist Culture and Heritage in Lumbini

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of India International Center for Buddhist Culture and Heritage with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Devba in Lumbini, Nepal on Monday, 16 May. The center will be constructed by the International Buddhist Association (IBC), New Delhi on a plot of land belonging to the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT). It was allocated to IBC under an agreement signed between IBC and LDT in March 2022.

The foundation stone laying ceremony on the auspicious occasion of Buddha Jayanti was performed by monks from three major Buddhist traditions, Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. Once the construction is complete, it will be a world-class facility welcoming pilgrims and tourists from across the world. Here devotees will be able to enjoy the essence of the spiritual forms of Buddhism. It will be a modern building. The center will also have prayer hall, meditation centre, library, exhibition hall, cafeteria, offices and other facilities.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi visited the Mayadevi temple of Lumbini. He was accompanied by Nepal’s Prime Minister Devba and his wife Dr. Arju Rana Devba. The two leaders visited the sign-stone inside the temple complex, which indicates the exact location of the incarnation of Lord Buddha. Both the heads of government also participated in the worship performed according to Buddhist rituals. Both the Prime Ministers lit the lamp near the Ashoka Pillar located just next to the temple.

This pillar was built by Emperor Ashoka in 249 BC. The first archival evidence of the birth of Lord Buddha in Lumbini is engraved on this pillar. After this both the Prime Ministers offered water to the Bodhi tree. Its sapling was brought from Bodh Gaya, which was gifted by Prime Minister Modi in 2014. Both the Heads of Government also signed the visitor’s book of the temple. Earlier, on his arrival in Lumbini this morning, Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Devba, his wife Dr. Arju Rana Deoba and several ministers of the Government of Nepal received a warm welcome. This is Prime Minister Modi’s fifth visit to Nepal and the first to Lumbini.