UN cultural agency opts not to put Buddha’s birthplace on endangered list

The United Nations cultural agency has decided against putting the Buddhist pilgrimage destination of Lumbini on its list of heritage sites in danger.

Unesco instead gave authorities in Nepal more time to help restore the famous gardens and temple which are falling into disrepair.

Lumbini is the birthplace of Buddha, according to Buddhist tradition, and was made a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1997.

Experts had recommended placing it on the agency’s list of sites in danger, saying the deterioration of key features shows an “alarming state of conservation”.

Basanta Maharjan, a Nepalese expert on the site and Buddhism, said Nepal had “totally ignored” Unesco’s past suggestions and warnings, adding: “Now Nepal has one last chance to make the right amends.

“Lumbini is important not just for Nepal or for Buddhists but for the world, and there needs to be immediate improvements made to Lumbini by the Nepalese authorities.”

Putting a site on the list, which contains more than 50 properties, is meant to rally international support for conservation efforts rather than be a punishment, but can eventually lead to a site being dropped from Unesco’s prestigious list of heritage sites.

In deciding at its annual meeting to give Nepal more time, delegates from the countries making up the World Heritage Committee, which maintains the Unesco list and the conservation of the sites, noted Nepal’s efforts to preserve the site.

The committee gave the country until February 1 to submit a new report on the state of conservation and said the matter would be considered again at next year’s annual meeting.

Nepal’s delegation assured the group that it was committed to the “full implementation” of recommendations by Unesco experts who inspected the site.

Lebanon, supported by Belgium, argued against giving Nepal more time, noting there have been concerns about the state of its conservation since 2002, and multiple discussions to place it on the endangered list that have been postponed due to promises from Nepal.

In the report on the state of the site, Unesco experts said remains at an ancient village within the site’s buffer zone had been destroyed, its Sacred Garden is not being maintained, and the centrepiece Mayadevi Temple is suffering continuing water damage.

“The condition of the Sacred Garden and the Mayadevi Temple Shelter, in particular, continues to alarm, with previous interventions failing to halt deterioration,” the experts said in their report.

“The need for immediate conservation efforts at the Mayadevi Temple Shelter is critical.”

Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Lord Buddha, was born in the famous gardens of Lumbini in 623 BC, according to Unesco, although experts differ on his exact date of birth.

It quickly became a site of pilgrimage, and the white Mayadevi Temple is the centre of the area where people pray.

Next to the temple is the Ashoka Pillar, erected by Indian Emperor Ashoka in tribute to Buddha while on pilgrimage to Lumbini in 249 BC.

Today the site includes several monasteries, gardens, pagodas and a man-made pond, and attracts more than a million visitors a year.

Gautam Buddha International Airport was opened in 2022 in the nearby city of Bhairahawa, and a highway now connects the airport to Lumbini.