<span style="color: #222222;">Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on an official visit to Lumbini, Nepal tomorrow on the occasion of Vaishakha Buddha Purnima. He is visiting the Himalayan nation at the invitation of his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba. <br />''<br />''At Lumbini, Prime Minister Modi will visit the sacred Mayadevi temple to offer prayers. He will also deliver an address at a Buddha Jayanti event organized by the Lumbini Development Trust under the aegis of the Government of Nepal.<br />''</span><br />''During the visit, Mr Modi will also participate in the Shilanyas ceremony for the construction of a unique centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage within the Lumbini Monastic Zone. <br />''<br />''The construction of the unique India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage with a universal appeal will be undertaken by the International Buddhist Confederation, India under the auspices of the Lumbini Development Trust with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. International Buddhist Confederation is a grantee body under the Ministry of Culture. The Buddhist Centre will be the first Net Zero Emission building in Nepal .<br />''<br />''Also, on the occasion, the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation is hosting a  programme for the Vaishakha Buddha Purnima Divas celebrations in New Delhi.<br />'' <br />''The Chief Guest for the event will be Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, while the Guest of Honour will be Union Culture and Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy with Minister of State for Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal as special guest.<br />''<br />''The significance of the timing of Prime Minister's visit to Nepal is to coincide with the inauguration of Lumbini Buddhist Centre with the Holy Vaishakha Buddha Purnima Divas.<br />'' <br />''The day is recognized as the thrice blessed day that marks the Birth, Enlightenment and Mahaparinirvana of Lord Buddha. While Buddha was born in Lumbini in Nepal, he attained enlightenment in Bodhgaya in Bihar, preached his first sermon at Sarnath and attained Nirvana in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.<br />''<br />''Lumbini is the holy place where according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mahamayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama at around 623 B.C.<br />'' <br />''Among the early pilgrims was the emperor Ashoka, who erected one of his commemorative pillars there. The site is now being developed as a Buddhist pilgrimage centre, where the archaeological remains associated with the birth of the Lord Buddha form a central feature.<br />''<br />''Some of the other Viharas and Monasteries in the area are the Myanmar's Golden Temple, Tara Foundation Temple, The Sri Lanka Monastery, the Korean Temple (Dae Sung Shakya), the Cambodian Monastery and the Vietnamese Phat QuocTu Temple.<br />''<br />''Lumbini is one of the holiest and most important places in Nepal as a result of which it was included in the list of World Heritage areas by UNESCO.<br />''<br />''The International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), India- with its headquarters in New Delhi, was formed in 2013 as an international Buddhist umbrella body to serve as a common platform for Buddhists worldwide.<br />'' <br />''<span style="color: #222222;">This will be the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's  fifth visit to Nepal since 2014 and his first visit to Lumbini. Prime Minister Modi's visit continues the tradition of regular high level exchanges between India and Nepal in furtherance of India's Neighbourhood First Policy. It underscores the shared civilizational heritage of the people of both the countries.  During his visit, Mr Modi will also hold a  bilateral meeting with his Nepalese counterpart. </span>