Supplies donated to Lumbini

More than 300 Lumbini residents in Nepal felt the warmth of Shenzhen at a ceremony held to dole out money and supplies collected by a Shenzhen delegation to the locals in the Chinese Temple in Lumbini, a Buddhist pilgrimage center, on Friday.

The Shenzhen delegates, including Yin Shun, abbot of the Chinese Temple and Shenzhen Hongfa Temple, and Chen Guoxiong, president of Youth Chawnese Sodality of Shenzhen, delivered a batch of drugs to the medical institutions in local villages and towns, grants to impoverished students, and daily essentials such as rice and edible oil to local residents. The residents folded their hands to show gratitude to the sincere help from over 5,000 kilometers away.

Yin Shun, abbot of the Chinese Temple in Lumbini and Shenzhen Hongfa Temple, helps a resident in Lumbini, Nepal carry a bag of rice on his head. Courtesy of Shenzhen Hongfa Temple

The charity event is part of a series of philanthropic initiatives launched by Yin Shun in 2014. This year, the Chawnese sodality jointly cooperated with the Chinese Temple, Arniko Society and Shenzhen Eye Hospital to provide philanthropic surgeries for cataract patients Wednesday and Thursday. The series of charity activities have carried out over 2,000 cataract surgeries free of charge.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who attended the ceremony, said that Buddhist culture extends the friendship between China and Nepal. He expressed his hope that the Chinese Temple would continue to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries, and facilitate more mutual communication in all respects.

Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997. Situated in western Nepal, it represents an outstanding universal value in terms of religious importance, culture, spirituality and archaeology. It is now being developed as a Buddhist pilgrimage center.