Lumbini
Birthplace Of The Buddha, UNESCO World Heritage Site Inscribed 1997, With The Ashoka Pillar And The Maya Devi Temple · Lumbini, Lumbini
Lumbini is the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, and one of the holiest places in the world for Buddhists. It lies on the flat, hot plain of the Terai near the Indian border. At its heart is the Sacred Garden, with the Maya Devi Temple, built over the excavated remains of older shrines and protecting a marker stone said to show the exact place of the birth, beside the Puskarini pond where his mother is said to have bathed. Nearby stands the Ashoka Pillar, raised by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE, whose inscription records his pilgrimage here and confirms that this was the place. Around it spreads the monastic zone, laid out to a master plan by the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange, where Buddhist countries from Thailand to Germany have built temples in their own styles. Pilgrims come from across Asia, and many visitors find the peace of the Sacred Garden moving. The monastic zone is large and spread out, and the heat in summer is severe. A new international airport at Bhairahawa has made it easier to reach.
Lumbini Sacred Garden, Rupandehi District, Lumbini, Lumbini, Nepal
The Sacred Garden is open daily from morning to evening, with an entry fee for foreigners; the Maya Devi Temple has its own hours and shoes are removed. The monastic zone is spread over several kilometres, and bicycles or rickshaws are the way round. Lumbini is near Bhairahawa, which has an international airport, and near the Indian border at Sunauli.