Lumbini opened after 8 months

Lumbini, November 19

Buddha's birthplace Lumbini has reopened after eight months. Along with the government's decision to open tourist sites last Friday, the international tourist destination Lumbini has also opened.

With the opening of Lumbini for tourists, the bustle of domestic tourists has started. Now, tourists will be able to visit the Mayadevi temple complex in Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, the Ashoka Pillar, the Pushkarini Pond, the gardens and the Bihar of different countries by adopting health safety measures.

As soon as Lumbini was opened, hoteliers lit lamps at the Mayadevi temple premises on Wednesday evening, wishing for world peace, organized by the Lumbini Hotel Association.

Lilamani Sharma Poudel, general secretary of the Lumbini Hotel Association, said that local hoteliers and other interested people will continue lighting lamps at the Ashoka Pillar premises adjacent to the Mayadevi temple every day from 5 pm to 7 pm. "After eight months of not visiting the Mayadevi temple and visiting Lumbini, the day it was opened, there was a flurry of domestic tourists," Poudel said.

Gyanin Rai, senior officer, and chief administrative officer of the Lumbini Development Fund, said that every tourist should be measured and must wear a mask before entering the Mayadevi temple premises. "Now the Mayadevi temple complex, all the places in the holy garden area, and the temples and Bihars have been opened. It will soon be open to the public inside the Mayadevi temple," said Rai.

Rai said that the sidewalk leading to the Mayadevi temple from Mahilbar-5 has been made attractive by laying colored bricks and the Mayadevi temple premises has been made beautiful by cutting grass and dubo.

The three-month season from September to November is the busiest season for domestic tourists in Lumbini. Hari Rai, information officer of the Lumbini Development Fund, said that an average of one hundred thousand tourists visit the area during this period. It is estimated that more than one hundred thousand domestic tourists visited Lumbini every month this season last year.

Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, was closed due to the global corona pandemic. Eleven organizations, including hoteliers in Lumbini, had requested the Lumbini Development Fund through a memorandum to open the Mayadevi temple.

Image Source: nepalitimes.com