Lumbini, Nepal

Lumbini is the place where Lord Buddha was born. It is also the place were he gained enlightenment and became famous. Lumbini gets more Pilgrimage tourits than any other city of Nepal.

Here one can see Maya Devi temple, the place where she gave birth to the lord,  and an Ashoka pillar which has inscriptions identifying the spot as the birthplace, ruins of ancient stupas and monasteries, and Pushkarni pond where Queen Mayadevi took bath before giving birth. The Lumbini region has been developed through Lumbini Trust, a none governmental organization. Newer temples and monuments are being developed by foreign pilgrimage here. All temples found in this region form this place a royal Buddhist pilgrimages destination. The China temple located in Lumbini is a complex of pagodas, prayer rooms and meditation cells developed by the Buddhist Association of China. There is also Myanmar Temple also known as Lokamani Cula Pagoda which soars into the sky. The International Gautami Nuns temple is also found here which is a replica of the Swayambhu stupa in Kathmandu. Many other temples are currently under construction, these include Japan temple, Sri Lanka temple, and Vietnam temple.

Lumbini Museum, Lumbini International Research Institute, and Kapilvastu Museum (situated 27km west of Lumbini in Tilaurakot) are other places see in this region. The Kapilvastu museum has ruins of ancient capital of Sakya kingdom where the Buddha spet his youth as Prince Siddhartha.

In the Buddha's time, Lumbini was a park situated between Kapilavastu and Devadaha in Nepal. It was there that the Buddha was born. A pillar now marks the spot of Asoka's visit to Lumbiní. According to an inscription on the pillar, it was placed there by the people then in charge of the park to commemorate Asoka's visit and gifts. The park was previously known as Rummindei, two miles north of Bhagavanpura.

In the Sutta Nipáta (vs. 683) it is stated that the Buddha was born in a village of the Sákyans, in the Lumbineyya Janapada. The Buddha stayed in Lumbinívana during his visit to Devadaha and there preached the Devadaha Sutta.