Top 10 Facts About Lumbini: Birthplace of Lord Buddha
Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha is a Buddhist pilgrimage site located in the Rupandehi district of Nepal. Queen Maha Mayadevi on the way from her home in Kapilvastu to her parents home gave birth to the Lord Buddha after she suddenly went into labour at a beautiful garden, which is now known to the world as Lumbini.
Top 10 facts about Lumbini
1. At the time of Lord Buddha’s birth (623 BC), Lumbini was a beautiful garden usually tended by Shakya of Kapilavastu and Koilya of Devadaha.
2. After Buddha’s death, the beautiful garden of Lumbini was turned into a place of pilgrimage
3. Emperor Ashoka made a royal pilgrimage to Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, in 249 BC. Here he worshiped the birthplace of the Buddha and left many monuments to propagate the Dhamma. Ashoka erected a pillar with an inscription to commemorate his visit, which is now commonly known as the Ashoka Pillar.
4. Lumbini was rediscovered on 1 December 1896 by Dr Fuhrer (a German) and Khadg Shamsher Rana (a Nepalese scholar). They excavated the mounds of Lumbini and uncovered the Ashoka pillar and found the famous inscription mentioning the birth place of Shakyamuni Buddha in Lumbini.
5. In the year 1933-39, General Kesher Shamsher did a big excavation in Lumbini. He exposed the structures through unscientific methods which caused great damage to the site. He enlarged the Shakya pond with steps and a brick perimeter.
6. On the occasion of the Fourth Congress of the World Buddhist Fellowship held in Kathmandu in 1956, the participants felt the need to rebuild the sacred garden of Lumbini.
7. The International Committee for the Development of Lumbini was formed in New York in 1970. The committee had consulted world renowned Japanese architect Prof. Kenzo Tange to design the master plan of Lumbini.
8. In 1997, Lumbini was listed as a World Heritage Site.
9. Before his death at Kusinara, Lord Buddha said: “This (Lumbini) is the place where the Tathagata was born, it is a place that a person with faith, devotion and contemplation should visit and develop awareness. And the terrifying nature of impermanence.” ”
10. Today pilgrims and visitors from all over the world flock to Lumbini, a timeless place where ancient monuments mark the authenticity of the birthplace.
The Other Sacred Sites of the Lord Buddha
- Siddhartha Gautam (Lord Buddha) was born in Lumbini.
- At the age of 29, he took the great renunciation
- At the age of 35, he was enlightened in Bodhgaya
- He preached for the first time at Sarnath
- And at the age of 80, he passed away in Kusinara.
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