World Peace Stupa

Back on the bus, we were taken to the World Peace Stupa. We were dropped off at one side, had to climb up to see the monument, and then descend on the other side to the bus park. It was quite a hike! There were slightly clearer views of Fewa Lake and the city of Pokhara as we ascended.

The stupa itself is an impressive monument, built by Japanese Buddhist monk Morioka Sonin, under the guidance of Nichidatsu Fujii, the founder of the Nipponzan-Myōhōji order of Buddhism. He is best known for his decision in 1947 to begin constructing Peace Pagodas in many locations around the world as shrines to world peace. He laid the foundation stone for this one, along with relics of the Buddha, on 12 September 1973. Nepal has two of the eighty peace pagodas in the world: Shanti Stupa in Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, and this one. The pagoda is 115 feet tall and 344 feet in diameter. It has two tiers for tourists and religious visitors to circumambulate. The second tier displays four statues of the Buddha presented as souvenirs from different countries: ‘Dharmacakra Mudra’ from Japan, ‘Bodh Gaya’ from Sri Lanka, ‘Kushinagar’ from Thailand and 'Lumbini' from Nepal. Each statue represents important events related to the Buddha and was named according to where they took place.Read more