LIRI Lumbini – Kenzo Tange
In 1956, His late Majesty King Mahendra formally initiated the development of Lumbini, the birthplace of Shakyamuni Buddha. Some ten years later, during his 1967 Nepal visit, the late U Thant, then UN Secretary General, made the Lumbini Development Project an inter-national cause.
In 1978, following an official request by His Majesty’s Government of Nepal, Reiyukai decided to construct and donate the Lumbini International Research Institute facilities. By 1989, part of the Institute was completed, and in 1992, in order to complete the Institute facilities, and as one of the projects commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Kakutaro Kubo, the founder of Reiyukai, further fund-raising began among Reiyukai members and the general public. Furthermore, in 1994, Reiyukai agreed to cooperate with the Lumbini Development Trust in administering and managing the Lumbini International Research Institute upon its completion in 1995.
It is the heartfelt hope of Reiyukai members that the Buddha’s wisdom can be shared by all people forever and that a more humane and compassionate society be realised, and it is for this reason that Reiyukai donates this facility.
