Thursday, March 3, 2011

No.140 - Journey of Dreams - Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha.

Lumbini is the birth place of prince Siddhartha, later to be the Buddha Shakyamuni. He was born here in 623 B.C. Queen Maya, his mother, has been depicted in the stone sculpture of the Gupta period in a small temple just above the sacred site where Siddhartha was born.
This album contains genuine pictures of the monastery and is the crux of my travel ‘journey of dreams – Lumbini’ to see for myself the  birth place of my Lord Buddha.

Lumbini is spread in 1150 Bighas (770 Hectares) of land in an area of 2 Squares miles-3 Miles from North to South and 1 Mile from East to West divided into 3 one Square Mile areas.

The Southern North one Mile Square is the sacred garden. The middle one Mile Square is the Monastic Zone and the Northern one Mile Square is the new Lumbini Village.

The construction of Maya Devi Temple, Monasteries of different Countries, the Lumbini International Research Insititute(LIRI), The Lumbini Museums are all within this vast area.

I hope my album will give you a general idea of the Lumbini as it is today to all the people intending to visit Lumbini.

Mayadevi Temple, Buddha's birth place. On the south of the Maya Devi temple there is the famous sacred bathing pool known as Puskami. It is believed that Maha Devi took a bath in this pool before the delivery. 


  The tree where she rested after giving birth to the Buddha. 
                                                       The Eternal Peace Flame.
                                           Rows of waiting trishaws waiting for tourists.
                                                    The entrance to Lumbini Garden.

                                                    Sign at the Asoka Piller.
 In 249 BC, when the Emperor Ashoka visited Lumbini it was a flourishing village. Ashoka constructed four stupas and a stone pillar with a figure of a horse on top. The stone pillar bears an inscription which, in English translation, runs as follows: "King Piyadasi (Ashoka), beloved of devas, in the 20 year of the coronation, himself made a royal visit, Buddha Sakyamuni having been born here, a stone railing was built and a stone pillar erected to the Bhagavan having been born here, Lumbini village was taxed reduced and entitled to the eight part (only)".
 
                                                          Fifteen Chamber Site discovered.

Lumbini remained neglected for centuries. In 1895, Feuhrer, a famous German archaeologist, discovered the great pillar while wandering about the foothills of the Churia range. Further exploration and excavation of the surrounding area revealed the existence of a brick temple and a sandstone sculpture within the temple itself which depicts the scenes of the Buddha's birth. 
A visit to Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, is not only for spiritual enlightenment but also for solace and satisfaction that one gets in such a calm and peaceful place.