PM Modi’s visit to Lumbini is part of India’s rise as a civilizational state

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Lumbini—the birthplace of Gautam Buddha in Nepal, to kick start festivities on the occasion of Buddha Purnima.

The visit is of enormous geo-cultural importance in part of consolidation of India as a modern civilizational state.

By visiting Lumbini, on a day when the entire Buddhist universe is focusing on the founts of a great faith revered by nearly seven percent of the world’s population, the Prime Minister is making a bold statement—India is the core of Buddhism, and seeks to revive its natural connectivity with the global Buddhist ecosystem.  

PM Modi is consciously leveraging India and Nepal’s enormous soft power on account of the two countries’ shared Buddhist heritage which spread its branches into China, South Korea, and Japan, and simultaneously in South and Central Asia via the ancient Silk Road, as well as Sri Lanka.

In reviving India’s standing in the international Buddhis network, Modi inaugurated in Kushinagar, the place where Gautam Buddha attained Nirvana,  an international airport seven months ago. Other sites which are likely to receive extraordinary attention include Bodh Gaya, where Buddha attained Nirvana. Right now, the epicentre of global Buddhism, if it has to regain its rightful glory, needs a long-overdue makeover. Other famous sites related to Buddha’s life include Sarnath near Varanasi, where the great soul delivered his first sermon. Buddha attained nirvana in Kushinagar and was buried in Piprahwa in Uttar Pradesh.

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