Lumbini, birthplace of the Buddha

Queen Maya Devi, travelling to her parents' home, gave birth to Prince Siddhartha in the Lumbini garden around the 6th–5th century BCE. In 249 BCE the Mauryan emperor Ashoka visited and set up a stone pillar whose inscription records that 'here the Buddha, the sage of the Shakyas, was born' — the evidence that identified the site when it was rediscovered in 1896.

Inside the Maya Devi temple, excavations reveal the brick foundations of earlier shrines and a marker stone believed to show the exact birthplace. Outside are the sacred Puskarini pond where Maya Devi bathed, a bodhi tree hung with prayer flags, and ruins of ancient monasteries. Lumbini became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

What to see and do

Inside the Maya Devi temple, walk the raised boardway above the excavated ruins to the marker stone and the ancient nativity sculpture showing Maya Devi holding a branch as the Buddha is born. Outside, see the Ashoka pillar with its Brahmi inscription, the Puskarini pond, the bodhi tree where monks and pilgrims meditate and chant, and the brick foundations of stupas and monasteries from the 3rd century BCE onwards.

At dawn and dusk, pilgrims from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Tibet and beyond gather in their robes for prayers, making the garden deeply atmospheric.

Good to know

Shoes must be removed inside the temple, and photography is not allowed there. The sacred garden is at the southern end of the Lumbini Development Zone; cycle rickshaws and e-carts run along the central canal. Summers are very hot (April–June), and winter mornings can be foggy.