Kathmandu, July 30

Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Kumar Bhattarai said Padmasambhava Circuit would be a milestone for the development of tourism industry in the country.

In a discussion program held at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation with stakeholders and office-bearers of Barbara Foundation on the development of Padmasambhava Circuit, Minister Bhattarai said the circuit was connected with the Buddhist philosophy and had cultural and religious significance.

Bhattarai expressed confidence that the circuit would help attract many Tibetan and Chinese religious tourists and would help to lengthen their stay. He said the government had allocated budget for the development of the circuit in the new fiscal year. He also instructed the concerned department under his ministry to prepare a DPR for the same. Claiming that the circuit would be developed as an international cultural hub, he said, “Padmasambhava, a key religious leader to propagate Buddhism, had travelled to various places across Nepal. Those places could be developed as tourism centres.”

Director General of the Department of Archeology, Damodar Gautam said Padmasambhava, usually referred to as Guru Rinpoche, had arrived Nepal from Takshashila, in the eighth century for penance. Tibetan king of the era had invited him to Tibet to propagate Buddhism there, said Gautam. Also speaking in the discussion, Lumbini Buddhist University Prof Ramesh Kumar Dungel said Padmasambhava Circuit would contribute to promote international cultural tourism.

Lumbini Development Trust’s Vice-president Abadhesh Tripathi and Buddhist Philosophy Promotion and Monastery Development Committee Chairperson Phupuchembe Sherpa Jikdol said Padmasambhava Circuit should be developed as an important tourism product.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 31, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.