May 26: The second phase ‘roadshow’ aimed at publicizing the Lumbini Visit Year 2076 has started from today at Ramgram Stupa here this morning. The State 5 government had officially announced the Lumbini Visit Year 2076 on May 18 last year with the objective of increasing the tourist arrival to 2 million during the Lumbini Visit Year.
Ramgram Stupa which lies in west Nawalparasi has the Buddha’s relics. The second phase roadshow started here this morning. On the occasion, State 5 government spokesman and minister for physical infrastructure development, Baijnath Chaudhary, observed that the first phase roadshow conducted before this had a good impact and the second phase would also give a fillip to the publicity campaign.
Mayor of Ramgram Municipality, Narendra Kumar Gupta stressed on the need of developing Lumbini and Ramgram at equal footing, saying the municipality has been making continuous efforts for the development of Ramgram and Panditpur, the places related to the life of the Buddha. A 30-member team has set out from Parasi on a journey to Jhapa, a district at the eastern border of the country to promote the Lumbini Visit Year 2076.
The team comprises tourism entrepreneurs, journalists and representatives of the municipalities concerned. It is led by Siddhartha Hotel Association. The roadshow will be held at major cities – Bharatpur, Hetauda, Bardibas, Janakpur, Lahan, Itahari, Dharan, Bhedetaar, Biratnagar, – in State 3, State 2 and State 1 in the course of its onward journey to Jhapa. Publicity materials about the Lumbini Visit Year would be distributed and the people of these states invited to visit Lumbini, said Rabin Sharma Ghimire, coordinator of the Road Show Taskforce. RSS
