Lumbini
Nepal · 150 m
Description
Lumbini (लुम्बिनी) is where Siddhartha Gautama, later the Buddha, is held to have been born, and it has been a place of pilgrimage since antiquity. The Maya Devi Temple encloses the excavated brick foundations of earlier shrines and a marker stone identifying the birth spot, and beside it stand a sacred pond and a pillar raised by the emperor Ashoka in the third century BC, whose inscription is the earliest evidence that the site was already venerated then. UNESCO inscribed the site in 1997. Around the sacred garden a large monastic zone laid out to a master plan by Kenzo Tange gives each Buddhist country a plot, so a walk of an hour passes Thai, Myanmar, Chinese, Korean and German temples in their own national styles. The surrounding plain holds further excavated sites, including Tilaurakot, generally identified as the Kapilvastu where the Buddha grew up.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 3 days (optimal 2 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: November – February
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Maya Devi Temple
- Sacred Garden (UNESCO World Heritage)
- Ashoka Pillar
- Sacred Pond Puskarini
- Bodhi Tree with Prayer Flags
- International Monastic Zone
- World Peace Pagoda
- Myanmar Golden Temple
- Royal Thai Monastery
- Chinese Monastery (Zhong Hua)
- Korean Temple Dae Sung Shakya
- Eternal Peace Flame
- Lumbini Museum
- German Lotus Stupa (Drigung Kagyud)
- Sri Lankan Monastery
- Mahabodhi Society Temple of India
- International Gautami Nuns Temple
- Tilaurakot (Ancient Kapilvastu)(Day trip)
- Meditation and Vipassana Centres
- Central Canal and Pilgrim Walkway
- Kapilvastu Museum(Day trip)
- Lumbini Crane Sanctuary
- Cycling Tour of the Lumbini Development Zone
- Kudan (Nyigrodharama)(Day trip)
- Niglihawa with Broken Ashokan Pillar(Day trip)
- Ramagrama Stupa(Day trip)
- Gothihawa(Day trip)
- Sagarhawa(Day trip)
- Araurakot(Day trip)
- Devadaha(Day trip)
Getting there
- Airports:
- BWA