Jhapa, May 4 :

Ten women have been meditating at the Maharanijhoda VDC for the past 45 days praying for peace and an end to the various conflicts in the country.

The number of people visiting the place to have a glimpse of the meditating women is increasing by the day.

The women, who started meditating on March 23, had announced that their meditation would last for a year.

The women of Maharanijhoda and adjoining VDCs went into meditation at the initiative of a local youth Ganga Prasad Bhetwal and have planned to develop the meditation site as a sacred place for Hindu and Buddhist devotees.

Everyday, the women — Yasodha Rajbanshi, Chandrawati Rajbanshi, Usha Rai, Hima Karki, Sirjana Ghimire, Tara Subba, Gita Kattel, Sharada Prasain, Bimala Adhikari and Meeta Ale of Gauradaha, Juropani and Maharanijhoda VDCs, also students of the Gauradaha Multiple Campus — meditate from 9 am after returning from college and continue their meditation till 5 pm. They spend the nights in their own houses, he said.

“We, with the consent of our families, have been meditating with an objective of conveying the message of peace,” Sirjana said, adding, “The meditation will help cultivate positive thinking.”

“Initially, our friends used to tease us. Now, however, they have stopped doing so,” one of the participants of the meditation Usha Rai said.

However, a local teacher Tirthanath Khanal said he was not convinced of the professed objective of the meditation. “I am confused as the style of meditation they are following is not according to the Hindu tradition,” he said, adding, “The women sit on chairs while they meditate.”