Lumbini, May 2 -- Nearly five decades after it was launched, the Lumbini Master Plan remains incomplete, missing its original timeline to transform the birthplace of the Buddha into a global centre of peace and spirituality.

The project, originally planned to be completed within 17 years, has now extended to 48 years, with key components still unfinished despite repeated commitments from successive governments and international partners.

Prepared in 1978 by renowned Japanese architect Professor Kenzo Tange, the master plan covers an area of three square miles in the southern plains. Tange spent six years designing the blueprint, which was approved the same year by the then Lumbini Development Committee (now the Lumbini Development Trust...