Where is the official birthplace of
the Buddha?

It is a controversial question. Is it Lumbini, Nepal or Orissa, India. His birthplace was historically documented and is in the small town of Lumbini, Nepal in the region of Kapilivastu and not in India.

Like many influential and important historical world figures, even the Buddha is not free from human interest and bragging rights.

The following articles highlight some of the current dialogue regarding the birthplace of the Buddha. There are many resources on personal blogs.

The current news articles listed below provide a valuable lesson for students first learning about the birthplace of the Buddha, because not everyone agrees!

Finally, this website is dedicated to the further education about the Buddha, originally named Siddhartha Gautama and his influence on society as an "Enlightened One" and Teacher of the World.

New Debate on Birthplace of Buddha 14 Sept. 2005

The Official Website of His Holiness
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar 1 May 2011

The Real Place of Buddha Kapilavastu's , Today's Kapileswar

Nepal Dismisses Indian States' "Claim" to Buddha Birthplace 7 April 2011

UNESCO Announcement to preserve Lumbini, Nepal as the Official Birthplace for the Buddha 20 July 2010

China Plans to Help Nepal Develop buddha's Birthplace at Lumbini
16 June 2011

Birth of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) in Lumbini.

Pilgrims and visitors at Lumbini, Nepal in the springtime
on the Buddha's birthday.

Pilgrims at the Mayadevi pond and Bodhi tree in Lumbini, Nepal 2006.

Queen Maya en route to Lumbini. carving located
at Borobodur, Java, Indonesia.

Buddha: Son of Lumbini and World Teacher website is all about the Buddha and his birthplace in the southern part of Nepal and the overall influence of Buddhism. The website focuses on the geography in the area, the narrative stories about the Buddha and the use of mandalas as a ritualistic art form in buddhism. While compiling the sources and ideas for this website it was difficult to leave materials out because there is a plethora of outstanding areas of topics to learn.

I teach grades 8-12, at a boarding school, Eagle Hill School, in Hardwick, Massachusetts. I intend to use this website, sources here and other websites created by Literature, Religions and Arts of the Himalayan Regions Institute members as resources in my classes on Global Perspectives, East Asian Literature, Systembusters and all classes on web page design! Furthermore, the diversity of websites created will also be shared with faculty and friends for their use in classes relating to subjects from the area.

Participation in the 2011 Institute has provided for me a library of resources referenced by the many expert presenters. Also, each presenter shared their expertise and experiences while doing their research and provided a huge resource of images and written documentation. The bounty of research materials, lectures and the tangible experiences with the Newar Feast, trip to the Rubin Museum of Art and Tibetan Feast all provide a multi-sensory learning experience which rates as a major learning experience.

Diana T. Mackiewicz, July 2011

What will one find here among the many pages of information and lessons?

• The Lumbini controversy-the conflict about where the Buddha was born and recent announcement by UNESCO.
• Geographical highlights of the area and regional problems like tiger conservation, kite-flying in Nepal, mountains sacred and otherwise.
• Jatakas: the birth stories of the Buddha when he was a bodhisattva and how to introduce the topic of reincarnation and Buddhist precepts to students.
• Epic Poetry: the Sugata Saurabha. Buddha's life story written in Newar, language of Nepal and translated by Prof. Todd Lewis of College of the Holy Cross. The poem is translated into beautiful and modern language and incorporates areas of Nepalese life.
• Mandalas: as a function of Buddhism in sand, painted and architecture. Mandala is a sanskrit word for "circle".
• The Eyes: the eyes on each page except for the Mandala page represent the all seeing eyes of compassion of the Buddha and these eyes are located on many stupas in this region. If one starts to study the images from this area, the eyes will appear to be ubiquitous and they are!