Nepal - Nov - 2023 -4- Lumbini

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Nepal Tour - Nov-2023

Day-3: Lumbini

Chitwan to Lumbini:

It is 140 Km and 6 hrs.

Wake-up call at 6 am, breakfast at 7, check-out and departure at 7.30. By the third day, now the routine was set: 15 min delay by the group members was fixed and considered normal. Arrival Bhairahawa - Hotel International Buddha at 1.30 for lunch. Bhairahawa is 30 Km before Lumbini proper and is the border town on India (U.P.) – Nepal border.

There are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Nepal: 1. Kathmandu Valley, 2. Lumbini, 3. Chitwan, 4. Sagarmath National Park.

Some people (eg our guide) put the number at 10. That is also correct because there are seven sites in Kathmandu Valley itself. More about it with Kathmandu description.

Lumbini is the birth-place of prince Siddhartha Gautam (623 B.C.). Siddhartha’s enlightenment happened at Bodhi Gaya (near Gaya) in Bihar, India, and then he became known as Buddha or Gautam Buddha. For a couple of centuries there was some controversy about the birth place of Lord Buddha: Lumbini or Bodh Gaya. The issue was settled by his prominent disciple, Emperor Ashoka (304 B.C. – 232 B.C.) when he wrote on a pillar (known as Ashoka Pillar) situated in Lumbini which mentioned Lumbini as the birth-place.

Lumbini and its surrounding areas where important Buddhist sites are located is spread over a large area (see Photo-34). It is not possible to visit each and every site and is not necessary also – as a tourist.

There are three most frequented sites in Lumbini: World Peace Pagoda (Japanese), Mayadevi (temple) – exact birth place of Siddhartha, and the Ashokan Pillar. It needs 3-3½ hrs to visit these three sites.

First, we were taken to World Peace Pagoda or Japanese Pagoda – Stupa. In this complex, site is allocated to organizations from different countries to have their Stupa. Japanese is the largest and most magnificent of all.

From there we were taken to Sacred Garden or Mayadevi complex. This place is also called Mayadevi temple. (Entry fee Rs. 80/- for Indians – included in the package). There is good deal of walking within the complex and is quite tiring.

In this complex there are four or five important sites:

The Mayadevi Temple: Queen Mayadevi was the mother of prince Siddhartha. In this enclosure, there is a stone slab on which Siddhartha’s birth took place. This is closely surrounded by archaeological remains of the structures corresponding to that era. (Photography was not allowed inside the hall.)

On the back side of the Mayadevi Temple are some more archaeologically important ruins of 6^th to 2^nd century BCE. Then there is Puskarini pond is which Mayadevi is supposed to have taken bath before giving birth to Siddhartha and near by the pond is a banyan tree where she had rested while on way to her parents’ place – and gave birth to Siddharth before she could reach her parent’s home.

On one side of the Mayadevi complex is the Ashoka Pillar with inscriptions mentioning that this is the birth place of Gautam Buddha.

Interesting and must visit place in Nepal.

Next: Pokhara

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