Peace lamp being taken to Sagarmatha base camp; Preparations in full swing for international conference on Buddhism

Lumbini (Rupandehi) / May 15: The peace lamp from the birth place of Lord Gautam Buddha, Lumbini, is being taken to the Sagarmatha base camp.

Olympians Baikuntha Manandhar, Khadga Ranabhat, Krishna Basnet, Everest Marathon winner Deepak Rai, among other athletes have headed towards the base camp taking the peace lamp from Lumbini today.

They are scheduled to reach Solu via Tilaurakot, Kathmandu, Swoyambhu and Bouddhanath. They have headed towards Kathmandu on Sunday.

Nepal Tourism Foundation, buddhistcircuit.com and Tenjing Hillary Everest Marathon organised the programme to revive the tourism sector disrupted due to earthquake and border blockade.

Meanwhile, preparations have been intensified for the observation of the 2560 Buddha Jayanti, the birthday of Gautam Buddha, who is known as the ‘Light of Asia’.

The government has decided to observe the 2560 Buddha Jayanti together with the Lumbini Day -2073 here on May 21. The birth anniversary of the Gautam Buddha is celebrated as the Buddha Poornima in Nepal.

An International Seminar on Buddhism is also scheduled to be held coinciding with the Buddha Poornima. The preparations for the conference are going on full swing, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said.

As many as 24 working papers on Lumbini and Buddhism are due to be presented by 18 foreign and six domestic experts in the conference, according to Ministry’s Secretary Prem Bahadur Rai.

The conference is taking place under the theme of ‘Lumbini Nepal: The birthplace of Gautam Buddha and origin of Buddhism’, which will be attended by high delegations from various countries, Buddhist teachers and vikkhus.

A total of 450 guests and intellectuals from 34 countries including China, Thailand, Bhutan, the United States of America, South Korea, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Austria have been invited to the special event. The majority of guests are expected to be from China and estimated to be around 200.

The declaration of the conference will be issued in Lumbini, and it will be named the Kathmandu Declaration. The Buddha Jayanti celebrations to be held in Lumbini will be joined by around 7,000 people.

The cleanliness of Lumbini has been carried out by intensifying the publicity campaign in view of the Buddha Jayanti celebrations and the Lumbini Day. Dubbing of the Mayadevi Temple is going on.

Cleaning of local ponds, parking lots, cities, event venue and construction of helipad has reached the final phase, according to Lumbini Development Trust Member Secretary Ajitman Tamang. The celebrations to take place near the Lumbni Museum will be joined by 250 nuns and monks.

The participants of the Buddha Jayanti celebrations will be offered the view of the Astadhatu idol of the Gautam Buddha, it is learnt. RSS