Lumbini mesmerizes UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Lumbini- the birthplace of Lord Buddha, one of the most popular site for tourists in general and global Buddhist community in particular on November 1, 2008.

On his two day visit to Nepal, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Lumbini- the birthplace of Lord Buddha, one of the most popular site for tourists in general and global Buddhist community in particular on November 1, 2008. Former UN Secretary General U Thant who visited Lumbini in 1967 initiated the Lumbini Restoration project and the Lumbini Master Plan(LMP) is the result of his untiring effort.

After his short trip to holy shrine, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes in the visitor's book of Lumbini Development Trust," I am awestruck by the beauty and profound significance of this sacred site, the birthplace of Lord Buddha.

I am moved by the life journey of Prince who left behind all comfortable circumstances to comfort the hard realities of life, late becoming founder of one of the largest religions.

As Secretary General of the United Nations, I sincerely hope that the life, philosophy and the teaching of Lord Buddha will guide us to promote peace, harmony and reconciliation among people of different religions, belief, culture and creed."

UN Secretary General Ban also inspected various monuments, monasteries and other places of archeological importance, including the Mayadevi Temple, the Ashoka Pillar, during the visit. He was briefed about LMP, which was designed by late Japanese engineer Kenzo Tange in 1978, and about the UN assistance so far for its development.

Of the five UN General Secretaries who have visited Nepal, Ban is the fourth one to visit the birthplace of Buddha. Lumbini is a major pilgrimage site for more than 350 million Buddhists spreading all over the world. Recently conducted survey shows that the segment of pilgrimage visitors to Nepal has increased considerably over the last few years and, Lumbini is expected to attract a large number of Buddhist pilgrimage tourists in near future. Last year 71,053 from 84 countries visited Lumbini. This year, 55,652 tourists have already visited Lumbini from 86 countries till August. To achieve substantial growth in tourism industry through new programmes, the Government has also declared 2011 as "Nepal Tourism Year" to revolutionize the tourism sector. Since peace and stability has already been established in Nepal, New Nepal is embracing all kind of social, economical and political agendas to keep country's economic prosperity on the track focusing particularly on tourism.

With the visit of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his inspiring comment on Lumbini, Nepal Tourism Board expects that it would boost the tourist inflow in Lumbini creating an image of a must-visit-in –a lifetime.