In many ways, the story of Buddhism all begins in Lumbini, under a full moon more than 2600 years ago. It was on that night that Queen Mayadevi is said to have stopped here during her travels to give birth to a son, Prince Siddhartha, who would find enlightenment and become Buddha 35 years later.
For visitors, Lumbini is an incredibly spiritual place and the tranquillity of the site is felt the strongest in the Sacred Garden that surrounds the central Mayadevi Temple. A large water feature, said to be the same pond where Prince Siddhartha was given his purification bath, reflects the trees of the garden. Prayer flags hang from the branches and gently sway in the breeze as worshippers sit below in deep meditation. For pilgrims who have made the long journey to get here, this is the moment they have been travelling towards.
However, there is much more to Lumbini than just the central temple and garden. The site spreads out over a large area, where you’ll find more than 30 monasteries open to the public, meditation centres, peaceful natural areas, and landscaped parks.
Even further afield, in the area around the Lumbini, there are thousands of years of history to explore. You can walk in the footsteps of Buddha as you visit his childhood estate, see his mother’s city, and stand in the exact spot where he left home through a palace gate to begin his journey to enlightenment.
