PM Modi to visit Nepal's Lumbini on May 16 on occasion of Buddha Purnima

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Nepal's Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha on 16 May 2022 on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Thursday. This comes following an invitation from Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba who embarked on his visit to India last month.

"At Lumbini, Prime Minister will visit the sacred Mayadevi temple to offer prayers. 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," a press release from the Ministry of External Affairs read. 

PM Modi will also participate in the ceremony for the construction of a centre for Buddhist culture and heritage. "Prime Minister will participate in the "Shilanyas” ceremony for the construction of a centre for Buddhist culture and heritage, in a plot belonging to the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), New Delhi within the Lumbini Monastic Zone," it added further.

In addition to that, PM Modi will hold a bilateral talk with his Nepalese counterpart, Sher Bahadur Deuba, informed MEA. "Prime Minister Modi’s visit continues the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between India and Nepal in furtherance of our Neighbourhood First policy. It underscores the shared civilizational heritage of the people of both countries," A statement from the press release of MEA read.

PM Modi to mark 1st visit to Nepal after his re-election in 2019

PM Modi will fly to Kushinagar International Airport from Delhi and then take a chopper to Lumbini in Nepal on May 16. This marks the Prime Minister’s first visit to Nepal after his re-election in 2019. However, he visited Nepal four times in his previous tenure. PM Modi visited two religious and cultural sites namely Janakpur and Muktinath during his last visit to Nepal in May 2018.

Maya Devi Temple

The Maya Devi temple has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Archaeological excavations indicated that the structural ruins date from several stages of the temple's construction and renovation over time. Emperor Asoka used the charred bricks to construct a platform to protect the Marker Stone and the Nativity Tree under which Prince Siddhartha was born.

General Khadga Shamsher and Dr Anton Fuhrer rediscovered the Maya Devi Temple in 1896. In 1939, Keshar Shumsher excavated and rebuilt the mound of the early Maya Devi Temple. Lumbini Development Trust rebuilt the current Maya Devi Temple in 2003. Maya Devi Temple's structural ruins date from the 6th century BC to the 15th century AD. It is made up of 15 box chambers grouped in five rows east-west and three rows north-south, as well as a circumambulatory path encircled by an exterior wall.

A timber shrine dating from the 6th century BC was discovered during an archaeological excavation conducted by the Department of Archaeology, Lumbini Development Trust, and Durham University (UK) between 2010 and 2013 AD. During the excavation, a pre-Mauryan brick structure was discovered beneath the currently viewable layers of ruins, each brick measuring 49x36x7 cm in size and weighing 20kg.