Butwal, Jan. 8 -- Along with the preservation of historic sites, the local units in Rupandehi district have prioritised the construction of various structures related to Gautam Buddha for the tourism year 2020.

As many as 10 out of the total of 16 local units have started installing Buddha's statues and building parks to beautify their towns and promote tourism during Visit Nepal 2020.

"Our main objective is to attract tourists by building structures related to Lord Buddha," said Basudev Ghimire, mayor of Tilottama Municipality, which lies a few kilometres from Lumbini.

The municipality has installed 22 statues of Buddha along the Butwal-Bhairahawa section of the Siddhartha Highway.

Ghimire said the municipality has also prioritised t...