Terai Madhesh

"Lumbini-- a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi district of Nepal‚ and an UNESCO World Heritage Site is about 8-km far from the open Nepal-India border." KATHMANDU: Chairman of Foreign Affairs Department of the ruling Indian National Congress Party and President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations Dr. Karan Singh stated on Tuesday that Buddha’s birthplace Lumbini would remain as the area of Indian interest and concern. Lumbini-- a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi district of Nepal and an UNESCO World Heritage Site is about 8-km far from the open Nepal-India border. At a time when lots of international agencies are showing their interest and expressing readiness in developing Lumbini, Nepal’s immediate Southern neighbor India also does not want to stand aloof, said Singh in an interaction programme organised by Reporter’s Club in the capital. Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF), the Hong Kong-based NGO has recently announc...

About a week before Nepal Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai embarked on a goodwill trip to India, he had announced a high-powered committee for the development of Lumbini, under the leadership of Prachanda, the chief of the Maoist party. This triggered speculation that in case Bhattarai felt unwelcome in India, he would turn to the north and involve China in a big way in the Lumbini project, apparently for the all-round development of the birth place of Lord Buddha. There is a background to this speculation. The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s China chapter and the Beijing-backed Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF) had signed a deal in mid-July to turn Lumbini into a “special development zone”. Prachanda is one of the vice-chairpersons of the APECF. However, despite the fact that the Jhalanath Khanal-led government survived on the support of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M), the then prime minister had polite...

Gautam Buddha said that the single factor responsible for bringing us to earth repeatedly is "attachment;" if and when attachment is transcended one achieves liberation. Yogis over millenniums of research designed methods to do this; bhakti-yoga or path of devotion for those whose heart or sentiments are strong e.g Meerabai, Surdas or Jesus; jnana-yoga or path of knowledge for those whose brain or thinking is strong e.g. Buddha, Janak, Raman Maharishi or Socrates; and karma-yoga for those who act or serve without caring for result e.g. Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa. It was no ordinary happening when saints blossomed like mushrooms around sixth century B.C; Buddha and Mahavir in India, Pythagoras in Greece, Zoroaster in Unan (now Iran), Milarepa in Tibet, Druids in Europe and a few notable saints in China. According to Madame H.P.Blavatsky, founder of Theosophical Society, earth developments had reached three-and-a-half rounds out of seven in which the clock needle would ...

RUPANDEHI, NOV 03 - Archaeological objects dating back to Gautam Buddha’s time have been found at Devdaha in Lumbini. The palace of Lord Buddha’s maternal uncle is located in Devdaha. Local people found the remains of a hukka (smoking pot made of clay), bricks, diyo (a small earthen lamp) and a pond under a peepal tree at Bhaluhi’s Buddhapath and informed the local administration and the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) of the finding. According to elderly people in the area, Lord Buddha used to take bath in the area and it has a small temple too. Following an inspection, archaeological officer of the LDT Himale Upreti said the relics may be traced back to Buddha’s times. He said an excavation needs to be carried out in the area to verify the objects. “Objects dating back to centuries were found here earlier too. However, people were not aware of them and the place remained unnoticed,” Upreti said, adding that there might be various other archaeologically important site...