Visit the birthplace of Sakyamuni

Siddhartha Gautama was born in 623 BC in a famous garden in Lumbini, which later became a place of pilgrimage. Indian emperor Ashoka was also one of the pilgrims and built a memorial column to him here. It has gradually become a pilgrimage center for Buddhists, with the archaeological remains of the birth of Lord Buddha as its main feature. In 1997, Lumbini, the Birthplace of the Lord Buddha, was included in the World Heritage List by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee as a cultural heritage.

Siddhartha Gautama was the prince of Kapilavastu (now Nepal) in ancient India. His surname was Gautama and his given name was Siddhartha. Siddhartha Gautama's father was King Suddhodana of Kapilavastu, and his mother Maya died seven days after Siddhartha Gautama was born. He was raised by his aunt. Siddhartha Gautama received the traditional education of Brahmanism when he was a boy. Later, he married Yasodhara, the daughter of King Jueshan, and had children. He lived a carefree life with fine clothes and fine food since childhood. He is good at shooting and riding, knowledgeable and thoughtful. At the age of 14, he came up with the idea of ??becoming a monk and practicing Taoism. At the age of 29, he became a monk and practiced Taoism to explore the door to liberation in life. At the age of 35, he attained enlightenment and became a Buddha under the Bodhi tree. After becoming a Buddha, Sakyamuni was revered as Buddha, which means a person of great enlightenment. He is also often called Buddha in folk beliefs. "Sakyamuni" means the saint of the Sakyamuni clan. At the age of 80, Gautama Buddha entered Nirvana and passed away in the Sara forest by the Hiraniyevady River near the city of Kushinagar.

The Buddha was born in Lumbini in the Terai plains of southern Nepal in 623 BC. Lumbini is located at the junction of southwest Nepal and India, in Rupandeshi County, 280 kilometers away from Kathmandu. , a cultural heritage site protected by the Nepalese government. The main sites of this site are the Maha Maya Temple, the Asoka pillar, the holy water tank and the Bodhi tree.

This is a sacred place, the white square temple of Lady Mahamaya, solemn, beautiful and elegant. The holy pool next to the temple is as clear as a mirror, glowing with golden light under the sunlight. There is a huge Bodhi tree growing beside the pool. It is said that there was a double Sala tree here at first, with a thick tree body. The original tree was recorded in Faxian's works. It was "withered" when Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty came here to learn Buddhist scriptures. It can be seen that the existing tree was replanted by later generations.

Maha Maya Temple, also known as Maya Devi Temple, was built by later generations at the birthplace of Sakyamuni. Photography is not allowed in the temple. On the northwest side of the Lady Maya Temple stands a famous Ashoka stone pillar with a height of 7.79 meters and a cylinder shape. It has the inscription "The birthplace of Buddha" engraved on it. Ashoka's personal edict confirmed that this place was indeed the birthplace of the Buddha, and ordered that huge stone pillars be carved and erected here and surrounded by stone fences. According to the content of the document: "On the 20th year after he ascended the throne, King God Blessed and Kindly came to worship in person, because this is the birthplace of Sakyamuni Buddha. An image was carved on a stone and a stone pillar was built to indicate that the Buddha was born here. Lumbini Village became a religious tax-free place, and only one-eighth of the harvest was paid as tax."

King Ashoka was the third generation monarch of the famous Mauryan Dynasty in ancient India. He was also one of the pilgrims. He was a devout Buddhist believer. Not only did he exempt all excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes near the birthplace of the Buddha, Buddhist books also recorded that Asoka erected a stone pillar as a mark and commemoration of the exact place where the Buddha was born. . It has gradually become a pilgrimage center for Buddhists, with archaeological remains and the birthplace of Buddha as its main features.

Since the discovery of the Ashoka Pillar in 1896, the authenticity of the archaeological remains within the boundaries has been confirmed through a series of excavations. The inscriptions on the Ashoka Pillars prove that as the birthplace of Lord Buddha, the sacred precincts of Lumbini are one of the holiest and most important in the world. Archaeological remains of Buddhist monasteries and stupas from the 3rd century BC to the 15th century AD provide important evidence of the early nature of Buddhist pilgrimage centers.

On the ground on the east and southeast sides of Lady Mahamaya Temple, there are red brick ruins, which are the ruins of brick pagodas and temples. Most of these ruins were excavated and cleared after the 20th century. came out.

Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha, has become a place of pilgrimage. Every day, countless pilgrims and devout Buddhists travel thousands of miles to come here, through high mountains and rapids and canyons, to offer their gifts and express their sincere feelings.

Once upon a time, this area was dotted with temples, pagodas, and eminent monks, giving it a Buddhist scene. More than 1,500 years ago, the eminent Chinese monk Faxian of the Jin Dynasty came to Lumbini via Xinjiang via India, and it became The first person with real records of foreigners visiting Nepal. Xuanzang, a famous monk from the Tang Dynasty, also came here to pay homage and learn Buddhist scriptures in 633 AD.

Since the establishment of the Lumbini Development Area in 1978, many Buddhist countries around the world have built luxurious Buddhist temples around the birthplace of Buddha. Each one has its own unique characteristics, so they form a large collection of various Buddhist schools around the world. Lumbini is the pride of Nepal and a world-class cultural destination. Every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the Nepalese calendar, a commemorative event is held to commemorate the birth of Sakyamuni to commemorate this historical figure who had a huge impact on human thought.

Written and photographed by Sun Keqin