- Lord Buddha

Just before his mahaparinirvana, Lord Buddha thus spoke to his favorite disciple Ananda at Kushi Nagar. Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha is held high among the Char Dhams (four greatest pilgrimage sites) for Buddhists — Bodh Gaya, where He attained enlightenment; Saranath, where He taught; and Kushi Nagar (Kushinara) where He attained the mahaparinirvana.

“Though Nepal being the birthplace of Lord Buddha, we've not benefited as compared to our neighbor,” argues Bikrum Pandey, a leading tourism entrepreneur, “People generally fly to India and start the tour from there.”

With the success of organizing marathons at the highest altitude of the planet, dubbed  “Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon” in the Khumbu region, Pandey has now taken another stride which he calls ‘‘faith tourism” which is a tailor-made tour of the Buddhist circuit, mainly the Buddhist Char Dham besides other major Buddhist attractions of Nepal.

“We're following the footsteps of Lord Buddha in its original form under Buddhist religious norms,” Pandey elaborates, “Our intention is to follow the Buddha's path, thus we precisely encourage the visitors to commence their trip from the birthplace, that is Lumbini, and we're quite successful in conveying this message while catering to our clients.” Pandey has also created a website (www.buddhistcircuits.com <http://www.buddhistcircuits.com>) to disseminate this message to the world.

“We've also approached Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) to take this project to a larger scale and intend to take it to bigger market in the near future,” informs Pandey.

Talking about the endeavors of NTB, Sarad Pradhan, its media coordinator enjoins, “NTB has prioritized religious tourism vis-à-vis other product areas and activities since the birthplace of Lord Buddha is in Nepal.

Thus, Buddhism has remained the main focus in our sales missions and promotional campaigns in South-East Asia,” Pradhan adds.

“The NTB has produced various promotional materials and published literature on Lumbini,” informs Pradhan, “We're coordinating with other stakeholders and institutions for the promotion of Lumbini, and we're always ready to extend any kind of support in this regard.”

As a result of the promotional endeavors of NTB, the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) and private institutions, Lumbini has been witnessing visitors in large scale in recent times. The place has recorded the highest number of visitors in a single group in the beginning of this year when 300 monks from Korea made their trip to Lumbini.

Though the master plan of Lumbini envisioned by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange is still underway, the place now boasts of many attractions, such as the renovated Maya Devi Temple, monasteries from different countries representing their respective quintessential architecture, and wildlife sanctuaries for birds and animals. A visitor may engage in many activities from prayer to meditation in the Lumbini Garden as well as strolling around it and the Theravada/Mahayana Monastic Zone. For those opting for longer stays, may visit other religious and archeological sites related to Lord Buddha such as Tilaurakot, Kudan, Gothihawa, Niglihawa, Sagarhawa, Aurorakot, Devdaha, Ramgram, besides the Tharu villages in its vicinity.

With swift connectivity of airlines and comfortable road links, Lumbini is not too far from the capital city of Kathmandu. The area also boasts of tourist-standard hotels for a comfortable stay.

How to get to Lumbini?

From Kathmandu, there are regular flights to Bhairahawa which takes about 30 minutes. Lumbini is 22 kilometers away from the airport. The 284 km distance from Kathmandu to Lumbini is just a 10-hour bus ride. Those entering from the Sunauli checkpoint at the Indo-Nepal border may reach Lumbini in less than an hour, depending on the mode of transport.
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