Four Sacred Sites of the Buddha's Life

Lumbini, Nepal: The Birthplace

Lumbini is one of the four sacred sites in the life of the Buddha. According to legend it was here, in the Lumbini Gardens, that Maya Devi, Queen of Suddhodan, gave birth to a son. The story is that her attendants surrounded the queen as she held on to a sala tree and gave birth standing up.
She named her son, Siddhartha, "he who achieves his aim."

The Lumbini Pillar marks the spot of the Buddha's birth. Asoka, the great Maurya emperor, visited in 249 B.C. and had the stone pillar constructed to mark this sacred spot. This became significant as the site was deserted and engulfed by the forest. In 1896, archaeologist, Dr. Alois A. Fuher, upon finding the pillar was able to declare the site as the place of the Buddha's birth

Left to right: Birth site marker, Pillar of Asoka, Pilgrims at prayer
Left to Right: Prayer flags at Lumbini, Bathing Pool

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About Lumbini, from Buddhist Pilgrimage, by Chan Khoon San

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