LUMBINI, APRIL 7
Nepal Olympic Committee celebrated the 'International Day of Sports for Development and Peace' with various programmes here at the birthplace of Gautam Buddha on Wednesday.
The programme was held at the Mayadevi Temple after a walkathon which was participated in by athletes, politicians, students and monks. Lumbini Province Chief Minister Kul Prasad KC inaugurated the ceremony and said such programme would help in promoting Lumbini through Olympic Movement.
NOC President Jeevan Ram Shrestha said the birthplace of Gautam Buddha was the best place to organise the event. "We will make it a grand programme in future and organise a peace marathon apart from inviting International Olympic Committee officials and representatives of all 207 IOC members to Lumbini," said Shrestha. The participants of walkathon also lit lights forming the Olympics rings on the Mayadevi temple premises.
Lumbini Development Trust Vice-chairman Venerable Metteyya Sakyaputta and Lumbini Sports Development Council Member Secretary Jay Prakash Bhattarai shed lights on the importance of the programme and world peace. The NOC has been celebrating April 6 as the 'International Day of Sports for Development and Peace' after United Nations' approved IOC's proposal in 2013.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 8, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
