Modi in Nepal Highlights: PM holds bilateral talks with his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba in Lumbini

The growing & strengthening friendship between India & Nepal will work for the benefit of entire humanity amid the kind of global situation that is emerging today. The devotion to Lord Buddha binds us together, makes us members of one family: PM at Buddha Jayanti event in Lumbini

The energy of the place where Lord Buddha was born, gives a different feeling. I was happy to see that the Mahabodhi sapling I had gifted in 2014 for this place, is now growing into a tree: PM Narendra Modi at Buddha Jayanti event in Lumbini

Extremely happy today to welcome PM Modi to this sacred land of Lumbini,the birthplace of Lord Buddha - the apostle of peace. Delighted to have the presence of PM Modi at this special ceremony in this sacred land: PM of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba at Buddha Jayanti event in Lumbini

A total of six MoUs/Agreements were signed and exchanged during PM Narendra Modi's visit to Lumbini, Nepal.

PM Narendra Modi and Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba hold bilateral talks at Lumbini

PM Modi and Sher Bahadur Deuba watered the Bodhi tree sapling from Bodh Gaya which was gifted by Modi to Lumbini in 2014 and also signed the temple's visitor's book.

PM Narendra Modi will deliver an address at the Buddha Jayanti celebrations organised by the Lumbini Development Trust.

PM Modi & Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba and his spouse Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba paid their respects at the Marker Stone inside the Maya Devi temple premises, which pinpoints the exact birth spot of Lord Buddha. They attended the pooja conducted as per Buddhist rituals: MEA

PM Modi and Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba lit lamps near the Ashoka Pillar located adjacent to the temple in Lumbini. The pillar, which was erected by Emperor Ashoka in 249 BC, bears the first epigraphic evidence of Lumbini being the birthplace of Lord Buddha: MEA

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, in Uttar Pradesh. Lumbini is the holy place where according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mahamayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama at around 623 B.C. Lord Buddha, was born in the famous gardens of Lumbini, which soon became a place of pilgrimage. Among the pilgrims was the Indian 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. Some of the other Viharas and Monasteries in the area are Myanmar's Golden Temple, Tara Foundation Temple, The Sri Lanka Monastery, the Korean Temple (Dae Sung Shakya), the Cambodian Monastery and the Vietnamese Phat Quoc Tu Temple. 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.

The significance of the timing of the Prime Minister's visit to Nepal is to coincide with the inauguration of the Lumbini Buddhist Centre with the Holy Vaishakha Buddha Purnima Divas. The day is recognized as the thrice blessed day that marks the Birth, Enlightenment and Mahaparinirvana of Lord Buddha. 

The significance of the timing of the Prime Minister's visit to Nepal is to coincide with the inauguration of the Lumbini Buddhist Centre with the Holy Vaishakha Buddha Purnima Divas. The day is recognized as the thrice blessed day that marks the Birth, Enlightenment, and Mahaparinirvana of Lord Buddha.

Ahead of his one-day long visit to Lumbini, Prime Minister Modi said that he was forward to meeting Nepalese PM Sher Bahadur Deuba after their "productive" discussions during the latter's visit to India last month.

"Our ties with Nepal are unparalleled. The civilisational and people-to-people contacts between India and Nepal form the enduring edifice of our close relationship," Modi said in his departure statement.

"My visit is intended to celebrate and further deepen these time-honoured linkages that have been fostered through centuries and recorded in our long history of inter-mingling," he said.

It is learnt that some MoUs on cooperation in cultural and educational sectors are expected to be exchanged between the two countries after the Modi-Deuba talks.