Nepal’s leading tourism venture ‘BuddhistCircuits.com’ is organizing a ‘Buddhist circuit tour‘ in the month of July 2019.

The organization announced its Buddhist Circuit fixed departure tours that would start from the Full Moon Day on July 16, 2019. The company announced this at the first Buddhist International Travel Mart that was held in Lumbini, recently.

“Buddhist Circuit tours have been designed for those who want to follow the route taken by the Buddha from his birthplace,” said Bikram Pandey, president of Buddhist Circuits.com.

“The sites associated with the life of the Buddha are important pilgrimages for over 500 million Buddhist followers throughout the world. This is the first time a fixed departure tour associated with the Buddha’s life has been launched. As the Full Moon Day is associated with the life of the Buddha, we will be organizing this tour every Full Moon Day. However, the tour can be organized regularly, if demand picks up,” says Pandey.

A Glance at Buddhist Circuit 2019

As part of the tour, tourists get a chance to visit Buddhist heritage sites in the Lumbini-Kapilvastu region.

The path of ‘Great Renunciation’ begins from the eastern gate of the ruins of Tilaurakot Palace in Kapilvastu, the place from where Siddhartha Gautam renounced his luxurious life and left the palace before becoming Buddha.

The trip then continues to Indian cities such as Nalanda, Vaishali, Rajgir, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, and Kushinagar via the Belhiya border point, before the final return to Lumbini.

The tour package also involves the extension of tourists’ stay in the Lumbini-Kapilvastu region and also aims to generate income to locals.

A Glance at Lumbini Tourism

According to the Lumbini Development Trust, Lumbini received 1.53 million tourists in 2018 recording a 16.54 percent year-on-year rise.

Out of the total arrivals, 1.18 million were recorded from Nepal, besides 193,635 Indians and 169,904 third-country tourists.

According to studies, tourists visiting Nepal spend 13-15 days on an average in the country and those visiting Lumbini hardly stay for 30 minutes, says a 2013 study.

To improve this scenario, the government is hoping big on the Gautam Buddha International Airport that is expected to be live by the end of 2019 and is planning to promote Buddhist pilgrimage on a large scale.

According to the International Finance Corporation, the Buddhist Circuit is a most-sought for 450 million population practicing Buddhists and also travelers interested in history, culture or religion.

Hope the Buddhist Circuit Tour will add to the government’s efforts in boosting the tourism potential of Buddhism centers.

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Buddha Jayanthi 2018, the 2562^th birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha, is being celebrated across the country on a grand scale with many special programs across the country.

Special celebrations have been planned at Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, and other monasteries across the country.

On the occasion, President of Nepal, Bidya Devi Bhandari extended her warm Buddha Jayanthi wishes to the people of Nepal and especially the country’s Buddhist community. She pitched on the need for the internationalization of Buddhist philosophy for the world peace and harmony.

Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun also made a similar pitch while speaking about the relevance and significance of the principles of Lord Buddha and Buddhism regarding peace and non-violence that have increased in the current-day world.

Stating that Buddha’s message holds high relevance in the present world, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said, “it is because Buddha’s view showed the path to non-violence, harmony and human welfare that they are so popular around the world today,” in his message to the country’s populace.

The leaders also extended their warm wishes to the local and the global Nepali communities on the eve of Ubhauli, the greatest festival of the Kirant community, which is being celebrated on the same day of Buddha Jayanthi.

Grand Celebrations

Marking the occasion, the World Peace Prayer was organized in Kathmandu during April 23-25, 2018 for collecting funds towards the construction of a 132-feet-tall Buddhist stupa. The stupa to be constructed at the Chandranigahapur of Rautahat District is going to be the country’s tallest stupa.  

Commemorating the day, a two-day International Buddhist Conference was also organized in Lumbini during April 28-29, 2018.

Delegates from 16 countries including the United States of America, Japan, India, China, Indonesia and Sri Lanka attended the conference, wherein, Buddhist scholars from different countries presented their research papers. A Lumbini Declaration was also issued at the conference.

Not just Buddhist countries, Buddha Jayanti is celebrated on a grand scale across the world.

Buddha Jayanti 2018 has been planned on a grand scale in India. To mark the day, nearly 40 reputed Buddhist organizations from different parts of the country and 10,000 Buddhist monks, followers and nuns are expected to assemble in Delhi to celebrate Buddha Purnima.

Countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, China are among important centers of Buddhism, globally. Some of the world’s famous places of worship of Lord Buddha include Lumbini of Nepal, Bodh Gaya of Bihar (India), Sarnath of UP (India), Kushinagar of UP (India), among others.

The Message of Peace

Lord Buddha, who is considered as the incarnation of Lord Maha Vishnu, was believed to have born 2500 years ago between 563-483 BC on a full moon day (Buddha Purnima) in the royal lineage to King Suddhodana and Queen Mayadevi in the Kingdom of Kapilavastu.

The emergence of the avatar of Lord Vishnu as Lord Buddha was to spread the word of mercy and non-violence to all the living beings, and is celebrated as Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti. 

Prince Gautama Siddharth choose the path of renunciation from the physical world to became saint and became Gautama Buddha to spread the word of peace by forming Buddhism.

More than a religion, Buddhism is today a movement for peace and harmony across the world, and Nepal holds a special place for Buddhism housing Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha.

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