Lumbini:The Birth Place of Gautam Buddha

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LUMBINI:The Birth Place of Gautam Buddha.

Lumbinī is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District of Lumbini Province in Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, Queen Mahamayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama at around 563 BCE.

Rupandehi District of Nepal, Province 5, near the Indian border. It was first formally identified as the Buddha's birthsite in 249 BCE by the Mauryan king Ashoka the Great (r. 268-232 BCE).

Prior to Ashoka's visit, the village was known by another name, perhaps similar but now lost, and was already an important pilgrimage site for adherents of the early Buddhist schools. It seems to originally have been a landscaped pleasure garden located between the cities of Kapilavastu, to the east, and Devadaha, to the southwest, ruled, respectively, by the clans of the Shakya and Koliya, who were related by blood. Suddhodana, of the Shakya, married his cousin Maya, of the Koliya, who would become the mother of the Buddha.

According to the accounts in Buddhist and Jaina texts, Maya was traveling from Kapilavastu to her home city of Devadaha to give birth when she stopped to rest in the gardens of Lumbini and went into labor. She gave birth to her son beneath a Sala tree and, according to some versions of the story, bathed him in a nearby pond. She seems to have then returned to Kapilavastu where she died seven days later.

Her son would later renounce his heritage to follow a path of spiritual asceticism, eventually attaining enlightenment and becoming the Buddha (“awakened one”), founder of Buddhism. He taught others his vision for the next 45 years, and after his death, his disciples continued his teachings through the establishment of various schools of thought and honored the sites associated with Buddha's life by designating them sacred places of pilgrimage and erecting stupas containing his relics.

The site seems to have been deserted after the Shakya clan was defeated and nearly annihilated by the Kingdom of Kosala (c. 7th-5th centuries BCE) under their king Vidudabha (c. 6th century BCE) of the Baghochia Dynasty. It remained an important place of pilgrimage, however (evidenced by modern-day archaeological evidence), and continued to be honored as the birthplace of the Buddha up through 249 BCE when Ashoka visited and erected his famous pillar which established the site's name. Afterwards, many pilgrims made long, arduous treks to Lumbini to honor the Buddha.

Among these was the Chinese monk Seng-Tsai (l. 265-420 CE), the first foreign visitor to record a detailed description, and later by the pilgrims Faxian (l. 337 - c. 422 CE) and Xuanzang (l. 602-644 CE), but the popularity of the site waned, and it was again deserted in the 9th century CE when the region was fought over by the invading Muslims and defending Hindus. The site may have still been visited by local people but was forgotten until it was rediscovered in 1896 CE and excavations began. It has remained one of the most popular Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the world since the early 20th century CE and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 CE.

*Legendary History & Birthplace of Buddha

According to Buddhist texts, the city of Kapilavastu (and possibly Devadaha) was founded by the legendary king Ikshvaku who established the Ikshvaku Dynasty. He was one of the sons of Shraddhadeva Manu, the first human who, according to Hindu belief, was warned of the Great Flood by the god Vishnu, built a large boat which saved his family, planted seeds and animals, and the seven patriarchs (saptarishi), and afterwards became the progenitor of humanity.

Ikshvaku engaged in numerous building projects, cultivating the land – perhaps even the garden of Lumbini, though this is speculative – and established the dynasty associated with the later Shakya clan. He is identified with the Shakya king Okkaka, first chief (or king) of the Shakya clan, and their relatives, the Koliya. Kapilavastu and Devadaha were ruled by two brothers of these clans: Sihahanu and Anjana, respectively. The cities enjoyed friendly relations and were allied through intermarriage, which kept the bloodline pure.

The most famous of these marriages was between Suddhodana of the Shakya clan of Kapilavastu (eldest son of Sihahanu) and Maya of the Koliya clan of Devadaha (daughter of Anjana). Although the Buddhist texts routinely present Suddhodana as a king, descended from a long line of royalty, modern scholarship suggests he was more of a regional governor or administrator, though still of the upper class, and belonging to the kshatriya (warrior) caste. The Shakya's political system was an oligarchy (in which one is elected to the ruling assembly), not a monarchy (where rule is passed from father to son or another relative) so it is most likely that Suddhodana was more of a high-caste elected official than a prince or king.