Lumbini

Lumbini Birth place of lord buddha

Lumbini is located in western tarai near to Indian border of sunauli, about 20 km. away from sunauli and about 300 km. west from kathmandu. Its easy to reach to lumbini by bus and by airfrom kathmandu. it is very important and popular place for buddhist religious. Lumbini is believed to be the birthplace of siddhartha gautam, the founder of Buddhism. known as the buddha or the enlightened one. it is an example of the ephemeral nature of human endeavour. There are many things to see so allow yourself to spend one or two hours. in one or two hour u can see maya devi temple, ashoka pillar, the sacred pond, tibetan monasteries etc.

History of Lumbini:- 2500 years ago the region at the foot of himalaya consist of a number of small republics and principalities that were vassal state to larger empires based on the genetic plain. siddhartha gautam was the son of suddhodhan ruler of republic kapilvastu state and maya devi, wife of suddhodhan and daughter of the ruler of neighboring state of dewadaha. its believed that on the full-moon day of may in 563 BC, Maya devi, mother of buddha was travelling in the state from the sakyan capital of kapilvastu to devdaha to visit her parents home to deliver her first child in keeping with the ancient tradition of her people. Along the way she passed through grove of lumbini which was a famous beauty garden with a pond surrounded by sal tree. when she reached in lumbini, the sal trees were in full bloom so she stoped there to enjoy with the view and bath in the pond. she suddenly feel the pangs of childbirth. Quickly she called her attendants to put up a curtain around her. Holding the branch of pipal tree to support herself. she gave the birth of child while standing up.

At the age of 29, while wandering in the town outside the palace walls, buddha came across an old man, a sick man, a corpse and a hermit. This confrontation with suffering and death impelled to siddhartha to renounce his luxurious life and leave kapilvastu. After that he spent the next 5 years seeking to understand the nature of existence. Mostly he wandered as an itinerant ascetic but he found that extreme self denial didn't provide him with any answers. finally after 49 days meditating under a bodhi tree at bodhgaya in India, He attained enlightenment from bodhgaya. He travelled to sarnath, near varanasi where he preached his first sermon.

The buddha Spent the next 46 years teaching his middle way. suffering, he taught, is a natural part of life but suffering is caused by attachment, desire and delusion and if these negative force are controlled by following the noble, eightfold path, it is possible to reach nirvana

Asoka Pillar

Upon entering lumbini garden, The most visible landmark is a tall pillar surrounded by an iron fence. This is the famous Asoka pillar erected by king asoka to commemorate of his pilgrimage visit. He built a stone pillar which bears an inscription in brahmi script to record the event for posterity. The inscription engraved on the pillar in five lines. Originally it had a horse capital on top but afterwards it was struck by lightning and broken in the middle leaving 6.7m standing without the horse capital. it is this pillar with its inscription that confirmed this site as the buddha's birthplace.

Kapilvastu :- Kapilvastu is located 27 km west of lumbini, lie the ruins of the ancient sakyan city. The place has been identified with the archeological mound at tilaurakot. Pilgrims visiting lumbini should spend an extra day to visit dilaurakot.

Maya devi Temple:- Maya devi temple is the shrine, a small pagoda style temple which holds a stone sculpture depicting the nativity of the Buddha. The sculpture contain a bas - relief image of Maya devi, mother of lord buddha, holding a branch of sal tree with the newborn infant standing on a lotus pedestal. It was previously in stalled in the old maya devi temple.