Buddha Brouhaha
It was a classic case of much ado about nothing.
An exhibition of Buddha´s relics preserved in India was jointly organised by New Delhi´s National Museum and Thailand´s Department of Fine Arts in Bangkok earlier this year. Everything went smoothly, including the opening of the event by S.R. Bommai, India´s Human Resources Development Minister. Everyone went home satisfied with the bilateral cultural exercise. But in nearby Nepal, there were angry voices. It began when the Nepali embassy in Bangkok saw a brochure produced for the exhibition. In a letter sent to the Foreign Ministry in Kathmandu, the embassy expressed concern that the brochure associated Siddhartha Gautam with Piprahawa in Uttar Pradesh, India. "This shows India´s unwillingness to acknowledge Lumbini as Buddha´s birthplace," the letter stated.
Now, if there is one thing Nepalis are really proud of, it is the fact that the Sakyamuni was born in Nepal. Therefore the ensuing brouhaha that has still not quite subsided. First came a news report that quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying: "It´s a sordid attempt to drag a non-controversial subject into ugly controversies. [Nepal´s] Lumbini is Buddha´s birthplace. It´s an established fact."