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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Nepal's Lumbini today and will lay the foundation stone for the construction of a unique centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage within the Lumbini Monastic Zone, informed the Ministry of Culture. During his official visit on Monday on the occasion of Vaishakha Buddha Purnima, at Lumbini, the Prime Minister will visit the sacred Mayadevi temple to offer prayers.
As per the ministry in its press release, the Prime Minister will also deliver an address at a Buddha Jayanti event organized by the Lumbini Development Trust under the aegis of the Government of Nepal.
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The importance of Lumbini, the holy place
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 Quoc Tu 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.
The International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), India- with its headquarters in New Delhi, was formed in 2013 as an international Buddhist umbrella body to serve as a common platform for Buddhists worldwide. It has the honour of being instituted under the patronage of the Supreme Buddhist religious hierarchy.
The aim is to create a platform for various Buddhist organisations and traditions worldwide to preserve, propagate and promote shared Buddhist values and principles. The objective is also to find shared solutions to global problems.
(With inputs from agencies)