National Trust lecture: The Sacred Garden
View(s):The Sacred Garden: Recent Problems and Prospects in the Conservation of Lumbini by Dr Locana Gunaratna will be the 84th in the monthly lecture series of the National Trust – Sri Lanka at the HNB Auditorium, 22nd Floor, HNB Towers, 479 T.B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday, May 26.
Lumbini, the place of the Buddha’s birth in 623 BC, is located in Southern Nepal. UNESCO has declared it a World Heritage Site because of its immense historical and cultural value not just to Buddhists, but to the world at large. Today, Lumbini is under threat from unchecked encroachment into the buffer zone, serious pollution from the nearby industrial areas, and most recently, an aggressive new master plan proposal, which is under review but favoured by the Nepalese government. If implemented, it may seriously alter the site and fundamentally change the character of this spiritual place of reflection to a bustling city. In the process valuable archaeological sites yet to be excavated may be lost forever.
A solution exists. It requires the commitment of stakeholder governments, including the government of Sri Lanka, to commit to endorsing and completing the existing master plan. That plan, commissioned by the United Nations and the Nepalese government and finalised in 1972, admirably contains the necessary protections of the site.
The lecture will introduce the project and its environs, describe the key features of the original 1972 Master Plan, and critically discuss the implementation effort highlighting areas in which greater intervention is required.