Thursday, February 28, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Nepal was promoted in Pako Festa, Australia
23 February 2013 Geelong, Australia: Geelong, the second biggest city of Victoria in Australia, transformed into a multicultural melting pot as thousands flocked to the thirty-first annual Pako Festa. It incorporated an extravagant street parade featuring around ninety floats and hundreds of performers representing forty-five affiliated ethnic communities and around sixty other community groups and organizations. The street was lined with stalls selling traditional foods and arts and crafts, and nine separate stages in the precinct offer performances of music and dance as well as interactive workshops and exhibitions. Pako Festa has become Victoria’s premier multicultural event, attended by well over hundred thousand people in each of the last three years and estimated to inject close to $2.5 million dollars into the local economy just over the course of the day itself.
Because of very nominal Nepalese in Geelong, Lumbini-Kapilvastu Day Movement Global Coordinator Mr. Ram Kumar Shrestha requested other Nepalese communities living in other cities to use Pako Festa as opportunity to promote Nepal as the country of the Buddha and the Mt. Everest. His idea was for Nepal to take advantage of this big gathering from different counties to try to dismiss misinformation of Buddha’s birthplace. Nepalese Association of Victoria President Bom Yonjan, Nepali Sanchar Managing Director Pramod K Soni and Namaste Nepal News Chief Editor Sabin Thapa, and Lumbini-Kapilvastu Day Movement Victoria Committee were active for necessary input and mobilized community members to participate in the festival to promote Nepal as the country of the Buddha and the Mt. Everest. Nepalese communities promoted Nepal through flags, banners, Nepali music, dance, Nepali dress and stalls. Miss Nepal Australia 2012 Deepashree Shah represented our country with a Kumari dance.
अस्ट्रेलियाको जिलोङमा नेपाललाई बुद्ध र सगरमाथाको देशको रुपमा चिनाइयो
Posted by Ram Kumar Shrestha on February 24, 2013
Saturday, February 9, 2013
बुद्ध नेपालमै जन्मिएका हुन् – भारतीय विद्वान
-कमल रायमाझी
१६ माघ, भैरहवा । गौतम बुद्ध भारतमा नभै नेपालमै जन्मिएको प्रस्टोक्ति एक भारतीय एक विदुषी प्राध्यापकले दिनुभएको छ ।
रुपन्देहीस्थित भैरहवा बहुमुखी क्यामपसद्वारा आयोजित कार्यक्रममा भारतीय प्राध्यापक डा अन्जु शर्मा उपाध्यायले भन्नुभयो, “सस्तो लोकपि्रयताका लागि कसैकसैले बुद्ध भारतमा जन्मिएको बताएको होलान् तर मेरो अनुभव, अनुसन्धान र खोजले कहिल्यै बुद्ध भारतमा जन्मिएको प्रमाण पाएको छैन” । उहाँले प्राज्ञिक तवरले पुराना गल्तीलाई सच्चाउन सम्बन्धित निकायलाई झक्झकाउने बताउनुभयो ।
केही समयअघि लुम्बिनीमा आयोजित नेपाल-भारत टुरिजम मार्ट नामक कार्यक्रममा भारतीय पक्षबाट वितरित एक पुस्तिका ‘दि पाथ’ मा बुद्धका बुबा शुद्धोदनको दरबार रहेको तिलौराकोट क्षेत्र भारतको उत्तर प्रदेशमा पर्दछ भनी उल्लेख गरिएको थियो । यस कार्यक्रममा संस्कृति मन्त्री पोस्टबहादुर बोगटी र नेपालका लागि भारतीय राजदूत जयन्तप्रसादलगायत नेपाल र भारतका पर्यटन व्यवसायीको उल्लेख्य सहभागिता थियो ।
उक्त कार्यक्रममा भारतीय पक्षले बाँडेको पुस्तिकाबारे जिज्ञासा राख्दा प्राध्यापक शर्माले भारतको सरकारी धारणा त्यस्तो नभएको बताउँदै सस्तो लोकपि्रयताका लागि कसैले त्यस्तो गर्न सक्छ भन्नुभयो । बुद्ध नेपालमै जन्मिएको बरु भ्रमणको क्रममा भारतको सारनाथमा गएको प्रशस्त ऐतिहासिक प्रमाण भएको उहाँको भनाइ थियो ।
Monday, February 4, 2013
Chronology of Lumbini-related Events
623 BC - 1899 AD
- 623 BC: Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who later becomes Buddha, is born in Lumbini.
- 249 BC: Emperor Asoka visits Lumbini and erects the Asoka Pillar with Pali language inscriptions in the Brahmi script to pay homage to Buddha’s birthplace.
- 350- 375 AD: Chinese Monk Sengtsai belonging to the Chin Dynasty visits Lumbini for pilgrimage and writes accounts of his visit.
- 399-413 AD: Chinese traveller Fa-hsien visits Lumbini and describes the place where Buddha’s mother, Queen Mayadevi, gave birth to Prince Siddharta and where the newborn was bathed.
- 636 AD: Chinese traveller Hsuan-tsang visits Lumbini. He describes Lumbini as “a deserted place, and wild animals roamed around enough to warn off travellers."
- 1312 AD: Ripu Malla, King of the Malla Kingdom of Kathmandu, visits Lumbini. He is the last visitor to leave evidence of his visit prior to the site remaining in oblivion for centuries.
- 1896: General Khadga Shamsher, Governor of Tansen, organizes an expedition together with German archaeologist Anton Fuhrer. The Asoka Pillar, which marks Buddha’s birthplace, is re-discovered.
- 1899: Excavation by Purna Chandra Mukherji discovers the main piece of the Nativity Sculpture. Two additional pieces of the sculpture are found and joined together some 85 years later by Tara Nanda Misra.
1900 - 1969
Sunday, February 3, 2013
US $ 77 million Gautam Buddha Int'l Airport to be built
SAMIKSHA KOIRALA
KATHMANDU, Jun 26:Upgrading Gautam Buddha Airport (GBA) at Lumbini, which the government plans to develop into a regional international airport, will cost more than double what the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had earlier assessed, according to the latest detailed study commissioned by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal(CAAN)."The new assessment done by a Korea-based consulting firm shows that the cost of completion of the first phase upgradation alone will hover around US $ 77 million. This is higher than the earlier estimate by US $ 42 million," said a senior official at CAAN.
A previous study carried out by the ADB four years ago had put the total cost of first phase upgradation at around US $ 35 million.
Based on that assessment, the government had secured a soft loan of around US $ 38 million under the South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Development Project of ADB. As per the agreement, the Nepal government has to bear 15 percent of the total cost.
The latest estimate has rattled the CAAN - the civil aviation regulator - and it has turned to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to arrange additional funds.
“We have sent a letter to MoF requesting it to arrange additional resources in the coming budget or initiate a dialogue with the ADB for raising the assistance amount,” Tri Ratna Manandhar, director general of CAAN, told Republica.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
मनपरि गर्ने भारतीय विद्यालयबारे सरकारले छानबिन गर्ने
-प्रकाश सिलवाल
१७ माघ, काठमाडौँ । नेपालमा भारतीय सम्बन्धनबाट सञ्चालित कतिपय विद्यालयले भारतीय राष्ट्रियतामा आधारित पाठ्यपुस्तक पढाइरहेको भन्ने गुनासो आएपछि शिक्षा मन्त्रालयले छानबिन प्रक्रिया अघि बढाएको छ ।
नेपालको विद्यमान कानुनी व्यवस्थाअनुसार विद्यालय तहसम्म कुनै पनि विदेशी शिक्षण संस्थाको सम्बन्धनबाट विद्यालय सञ्चालन गर्न मिल्दैन । ललितपुरस्थित डिएभी सुशील केडिया विश्व भारती उमाविले कक्षा ६ को ‘इन्टि्रगेटेड सोसल स्टडी’ विषयमा भारतको राष्ट्रियगान जन गण मन, राष्ट्रिय जनावर बाघ, लुम्बिनी भारतमा पर्ने र गौतम बुद्ध भारतमा जन्मेको जस्तो आपत्तिजनक पाठ्यपुस्तक पढाइरहेकोे भनी अखिल नेपाल शिक्षक सङ्गठनले आन्दोलन प्रारम्भ गरेपछि सो विषय नेपाल र भारतबीचको उपल्लो तहमा पुगेको छ ।
भारतीय दूतावासले हालै शिक्षा मन्त्रालयमा पत्राचार गरी भारतीय शैक्षिक बोर्डअन्तर्गत चार विद्यालयको विधिवत् मान्यताका लागि आवश्यक समन्वय गर्न आग्रह गरेको मन्त्रालयका सहप्रवक्ता डा रोजनाथ पाण्डेले जानकारी दिनुभयो । उहाँले सो विषयको किनारा लगाउन मन्त्रिपरिषद्मा प्रस्ताव लैजाने तयारी भएको बुझिएको छ ।
Saturday, January 26, 2013
सौरवले ईयूमा चिनाए गौतम बुद्ध र सगरमाथालाई
बेल्जियम - विश्व साईकलयात्री सौरव दाहालले बेल्जियम स्थित यूरोपियन यूनियनका प्रतिनिधिसँग भेट गरेका छन् । उनले यूनियनका एसिया विभाग निर्देशक मारिआ कास्तिलो फेर्नान्डेज र उपनिर्देशक रिन्से तिरिङ्क सँग भेट गरि "सगरमाथा नेपालमा पर्छ, गौतम बुद्ध नेपालमा जन्मिएका हुन" भन्ने जानकारी गराउँदै सगरमाथाको फोटो र बुद्धनेपालमा जन्मिएको लुम्बिनीको पोस्टर उपहार स्वरुप प्रदान गरे ।
भेटको क्रममा उनीहरुले दाहालको अभियानको प्रशंसा गर्दै वातावरण संरक्षणको लागि ईयुले नेपालको सुदुर पश्चिममा हालै दश मिलियन लागतको ईयू नविकरणीय उर्जाको परियोजना सम्पन्न गरेको समेत जानकारी गराए । नेपाली दूतावास बेल्जियमले भेटको यो अवसर मिलाईदिएको थियो ।
दूतावासका दिप्तिय सचिव लक्ष्मण खनाल सँगै दाहाल ईयू कार्यलय पुगेका थिए । उनले यस भन्दा अगाडी उनले जेनेभास्थित राष्ट्रसंघको कार्यालयको साथै यूरोपियन देशहरु अष्ट्रिया, स्विजरल्याण्ड, जर्मन, फ्रान्स र लक्जेम्वरका विभिन्न निकायका उच्च व्यक्तिसँग भेट गरि बुद्ध बारे प्रचार गरेका थिए । उनले प्रचार अभियानमा थुप्रै स्थानीयहरुलाई पनि भेटेका छन् ।
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Nepalese Participating in Pako Festa - the Biggest of its kind in Australia
Nepalese Community is going to participate first time in Pako Festa that will held on 23rd of February, 2013. Different organizations from Melbourne and Ballarat will join the festival and Lumbini-Kapilvastu Day Movement effort will to introduce Nepal as the birthplace of Buddha. In the festival Miss Nepal Australia, 2012 Deepashree Shah will perform Kumari dance.
Pako Festa, now in its thirty-first year, is Geelong’s much loved, award-winning, free, annual community arts festival - the biggest of its kind in Australia. Managed by Diversitat and held on the last weekend of February in Pakington Street, Geelong West, “the multicultural heart of Geelong”, it incorporates an extravagant street parade featuring around ninety floats and hundreds of performers representing forty-five affiliated ethnic communities and around sixty other community groups and organisations. The street is lined with stalls selling traditional foods and arts and crafts, and nine separate stages in the precinct offer performances of music and dance as well as interactive workshops and exhibitions. Pako Festa has become Victoria’s premier multicultural event, attended by well over 100,000 people in each of the last three years and estimated to inject close to $2.5 million dollars into the local economy just over the course of the day itself.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Kenzo Tange Master Plan for Lumbini
- When U Thant visited Nepal in April 1967 as Secretary-General of the United Nations, he proposed the development of Lumbini into a major centre of pilgrimage. This was followed by a UNDP consultant mission in December 1969, which led to a report that established the basis for further planning around Lumbini.
In 1970, the International Committee for the Development of Lumbini (ICDL) was set up comprising initially of 13 members and later expanded to 16 member states. The initial member states were Afghanistan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Later, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Republic of Korea also joined. At the national level, the Lumbini Development Committee was formed. ICDL initiated the preparation of the Master Plan for Lumbini, which was conceptualized by Kenzo Tange starting from 1972. The Kenzo Tange Master Plan was finalized and approved in 1978.
Buddhist Sites in Greater Lumbini Area
Buddhist Sites in Greater Lumbini Area
Kapilvastu
- Tilaurakot: The ancient capital of the Shakya Kingdom, which was the kingdom of Buddha’s father, with remains of the fortification wall with gates and remains of the citadel; Prince Siddhartha lived here until 29 years of age; site in Tentative World Heritage List
- Niglihawa: Birthplace of Kanakmuni, who was one of the four Buddhas of the Bhadrakalpa era (which is a long and immeasurable period of time of the sages, and it is also the present eon); site has a broken Asoka Pillar erected by Emperor Asoka in 249 BC
- Aurorakot: Ruins of a rectangular fortified area; believed to be the natal town of Kanakmuni Buddha
- Sagarhawa: A forest with a long lake known as Lumbusagar; thousands of Shakyas were massacred by King Virudhaka out of vengeance; ruins of hundreds of stupas built in their memory were excavated by German archaeologist Anton Fuhrer between 1897-1898
- Gotihawa: Remains of an Asoka Pillar to mark Krakuchhanda’s birthplace; Krakuchhanda was also one of the four Buddhas of the Bhadrakalpa period
- Kudan: Site where Buddha met his father, mother, wife and son for the first time after his renunciation; his son Rahul was ordained by Buddha’s most revered disciple
- Sisahaniya: important archaeological site of the Maurya-Kushan era; believed to have an ancient Buddhist monastery and a fort
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Lumbini welcomed 758k tourists in 2012
BHAIRAHAWA: The number of tourists visiting the birth place of Lord Buddha during the Lumbini Visit Year 2012 grew by almost one-third compared to 2011, but still the arrivals fell short of the target set by the government by over 24 percent.
The government had announced that it would bring a total of one million tourists, both domestic and foreign, in Lumbini when it announced Lumbini Visit Year 2012 last year. But as the year ended on Monday, Lumbini Development Trust said a total of 758,269 tourists visited Lumbini in 2012.
The majority of tourists visiting Lumbini were domestic visitors. "Though we couldn´t achieve the target, the campaign proved instrumental in promoting the destination," Hari Dhwoj Rai, information officer of Lumbini Development Trust, told Republica.
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