RUPANDEHI, April 19: The Purnima Fair kicked off at the birthplace of Lord Buddha, Lumbini, today. Lumbini Sanskritik Municipality Mayor Manmohan Chaudhary inaugurated the three-day fair organized on the occasion of Buddha Purnima.
The fair is observed on the premises of Royal Buddha Monastery and is believed to have been organized since the Lord Buddha’s era in the acknowledgement of Lord Buddha’s grandmother (Mayadevi’s mother) Rumindein as the Aadi Shakti, an incarnation of Goddess Durga.
Historians date Lord Buddha’s lifetime between 563-483 BC.
Month-long fair begins in Chovar hill in Kathmandu
Locals as well as devotees from surrounding districts and India enthusiastically participate in the fair and worship ritually in the Mayadevi Temple as well as various other monasteries.
According to the Buddhist Women Committee Lumbini’s member Manju Bhusal, the special feature of this fair was worshipping Mayadevi’s mother.
On the occasion, the devotees take their children to the Mayadevi Temple to shave their heads marking the moment when Lord Buddha had shaved his head himself after he abandoned the palace.
Locals lament the fair has lately been a lackluster in lack of proper management resulting in the dwindling influx of the visitors to the fair.
The event is expected to attract and lengthen tourist stay visiting the birthplace of Lord Buddha.
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