Visit To Lumbini: Birth Place of Lord buddha

The birthplace of Lord Buddha - is filled with peace and spirituality. Here's everything you need to know about Lumbini, Nepal. A day before my departure from Kathmandu, I was sitting at the dinner table with Manish, my guide at Himalayan travels and tours. I told him that I was planning to leave for Sauraha by bus a day after.

Manish told me that it would be a long ride in a bus to reach Sauraha from Kathmandu – often spanning up to 5 to 7 hours during monsoon. I wasn’t quite ready to handle this long ride and I asked whether I could make a stoppage or two somewhere nice.
Manish suggested that I should go to Lumbini, known as the birthplace of Lord Buddha. This journey would take about 8 hours, he told me. This sounded like a nice plan to cut my journey into two and so I ended up in Lumbini, where I spent two days exploring.

Here’s everything you need to know about Lumbini and how to spend a day or two there.

About Lumbini – The Birthplace of Lord Buddha
Lumbini, which means “the lovely” in Sanskrit, is believed to be the place where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautam. After achieving Enlightenment, he became Gautama Buddha and founded Buddhism.
Indian emperor Ashoka – who later converted to Buddhism – visited Lumbini in 249 BC and constructed four stupas and a stone pillar. In 1997, Lumbini was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Throughout the years, many Buddhist temples and monasteries have been constructed near the Queen Mayadevi Temple. Some monasteries are being built at the moment.

If you are seeking peace, spirituality or wish to learn more about Buddhism, a visit to Lumbini is a must.

How to Reach Lumbini?
Lumbini has slowly become popular among local and foreign tourists and Buddhist devotees in recent years.
It isn’t fairly easy to reach Lumbini from different parts of Nepal unless you are taking direct busses from cities like Pokhara or Kathmandu.
To reach Lumbini by air, you have to reach Kathmandu and then either take a bus or a domestic flight to reach Bhairahawa Airport.

From Bhairahawa, you can take another bus or a taxi to reach Lumbini.

If coming by buses other than a direct bus from either Pokhara, Kathmandu or other parts of Nepal, you will have to change a few buses before you can reach Lumbini.

In most cases, your first destination would be Butwal. From Butwal, you will take another bus to Bhairahawa and then take another short bus ride to finally reach Lumbini.

Buses and taxis drop you near the gate of the Lumbini Garden from where it’s a few minutes of walk before you can find a place to stay.

What to see?
Most important temple at Lumbini is the Maya Devi Temple, which enshrines the traditional site of the Buddha’s birth.

Mayadevi Temple
Mayadevi temple stands next to a sacred pool and a sacred garden. It was here in the gardens of Lumbini that Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who later became the Buddha, was born in 623 BC. Buddhist Pilgrims from all over the world come to Mayadevi Temple to pray and meditate.

International Gautami Nuns Temple
The International Gautami Nuns Temple is a replica of the Swayambhu Stupa of Kathmandu.This Nun is made by the Government of Nepal representing Nepali temple in Lumbini. It is indeed very relaxing place to meditate and spend your whole day at the holy place Lumbini.

Royal Thai Buddhist Monastery
Royal Thai Buddhist Monastery is made by the Thai Government. Monastery and buildings build by Thai Government have been designed and built according to the Thai architecture.

Amazing white marbled Thai monastery itself attract 50,000 visitors every year. The place is said to bless the disabled and helpless people. So pilgrims come with a great hope and spend days here curing themselves. It also houses meditation and yoga hours where people are inspired to find inner peace.

World Peace Pagoda
It is one of my favourite Pagodas in Lumbini. Surrounded by the beauty of nature and the peaceful environment make this place full of positive energy and vibes. People from all over the world come here to meditate and relax.

And of course, the World Peace Pagoda is also a famous site to visit in Lumbini. Do you know that out of about eighty World Peace Pagodas around the world, two are in Nepal? One is in Lumbini and another one is in Pokhara.

In my opinion, spending two nights is enough to get the best out of Lumbini. In my case, I stayed in Lumbini for two days.

That’s it, folks! You were reading A Day in Lumbini, Nepal – The Birthplace of Lord Buddha. I hope you found this article informative and I would like to thank you for reading.

If you liked this article then please share it with others. Is something missing? Can this article be improved? Do let me know.

Did you visit Lumbini – the birthplace of Lord Buddha? How was your experience? How many days did you spend there? Share your experience with me!
Thanks!

Article credit . Praxantp