Marking the agendas of Narendra Modi’s visit during the 18th SAARC summit, he mentioned planting a Bodhi tree at Lumbini brought back from Gaya where Gautam Buddha attained his enlightenment. Modi due to his tight schedule cancelled his visit to Lumbini.
Recently on December 10, 2014, the Indian ambassador, Ranjit Rae planted a Bodhi tree on the west side of the Mayadevi Temple brought by the Indian envoy to Nepal. The plantation was done within 100m of the temple where previous it was scheduled to be planted 500M away at the tree plantation zone.
With the plantation of the tree, a great concern has been raised regarding the importance of the UNESCO world heritage site. As Mayadevi temple is considered as high priority ‘risk map’ by the Department of Archaeology, new plantation of any tree or construction within limited parameters of the archaeologically sites are considered illegal.
A high concern has been raised by experts ignoring the legal provision of Nepal where the Indian Ambassador has planted the Bodhi tree within 100M of the Temple.
According to RSS, “A high source at the Lumbini Development Trust said the incident was a result of lack of seriousness on the part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as it did not feel necessary to cooperate with the Ministry of Culture, Department of Archaeology and the Trust before allowing the Indian Ambassador to plant the tree in a highly sensitive site. The plot, out of 42 plots inside the sacred garden of Lumbini where the tree has been planted, is the most sensitive and important zone, according to Trust Member Secretary Ajit Man Tamang. The tree had to be planted in the tree plantation zone outside the garden, but the Indian side turned a deaf ear to the calls of the Trust senior officials. This move has drawn serious concerns and criticism to the act of archaeologists as well.”
Similarly, Republica quotes the same story as , “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to the Trust asking it to allow the Indian Ambassador to plant the tree in the so-called risky zone and the Trust was obliged to follow the Ministry direction despite the prohibition. When the Trust officials tried to convince India to plant the tree in an alternative spot, the latter denied the call and said they would go back without planting the tree if they were not allowed to plant it inside the risk zone.”
The Bodhi tree currently threat the UNESCO world heritage site as the Bodhi tree expands roots which can damage to the archaeological site.
