Indian PM Modi, PM Deuba perform worship at Mayadevi Temple

KATHMANDU: MAY. 16 – India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has offered worship at the Mayadevi Temple there. He arrived in Lumbini today morning on an official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Along with the Indian Prime Minister, Prime Minister Deuba and his wife, Dr Arzu Rana Deuba, led worship and prayers.

Buddhist monks chanted hymns to Buddha as the prime ministers of the two countries paid their respects at the Temple.

The Indian dignitary walked around the holy pond and lit a butter lamp at the Ashoka Pillar on the grounds of the Mayadevi Temple.

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On the occasion, the two prime ministers also watered the Bodhi Brikshya tree near the Ashoka Pillar.

Prior to this, Prem Bahadur Ale, Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, and Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) vice-chair Bhikkhu Maitreya Shakya Putta welcomed the Indian prime minister and his Nepali counterpart to the temple premises.

Also today, the prime ministers of India and Nepal laid the foundation stone for the India International Buddhist Culture and Heritage Centre, which will be built on a plot of land provided by the Government of Nepal at the local International Buddhist Monastic Zone, and unveiled the stone inscription kept there.

Prior to this, the Prime Minister and First Lady Dr Deuba listened with reverence to the recitation of the Paritrana and the chanting of sacred hymns.