Pashchim Nawalparasi, May 18

At a time when the government in Province 5 is celebrating the launch of Visit Lumbini Year 2019, with much fanfare, locals in West Nawalparasi have lamented the neglect that Ramgram has faced.

“The visit year formally started in the presence of President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. While the grand function took place in Lumbini today, neither the province government nor the Lumbini Development Fund remembered Ramgram stupa, which is the second most important site for Buddhist devotees after Lumbini,” said Ramgram Municipality Mayor Narendra Kumar Gupta.

“The stupa has the final remains of Lord Buddha buried here and it also figures in the Buddha Circuit, but sadly it was ignored when the visit year was inaugurated,” said Gupta, who blamed officials of the Lumbini Development Fund for neglect of the historic place.

Though the provincial government did not organise any programme in Ramgram on the occasion of the inaugural of Visit Lumbini Year 2019, today, Ramgram itself organised various programmes today to inform prospective visitors about the place.