The Buddha's Life: Lumbini to Kushinagar

Buddhist tradition places the Buddha's birth in a garden at Lumbini. Queen Mayadevi, on her way to her father's Koliya kingdom, stopped to rest under a sal tree and went into labour, giving birth to Gautama Buddha. Centuries later Ashoka, emperor of the Maurya Empire, visited, and a Brahmi inscription on his pillar identifies the spot as the Buddha's birthplace. Recent excavations at the Maya Devi Temple found shrines dated as the earliest Buddhist shrines in South Asia. Today the temple and pillar stand in Lumbini, in Nepal.

Para el visitante: Maya Devi Temple and the Ashoka pillar are part of the Lumbini complex in Nepal.

Traditional accounts say that Siddhartha Gautama sat in meditation here under a peepul tree, a sacred fig, and attained enlightenment; the tree later came to be known as the Bodhi Tree. The Mahabodhi Temple was built by Emperor Ashoka in around 260 BCE, and the Bodhi tree growing at Bodh Gaya today is said to be a direct descendant of the original. The temple complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Para el visitante: A UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bodh Gaya, Bihar.

At Sarnath the Buddha gave his first teaching to his first five disciples: Kaundinya, Assaji, Bhaddiya, Vappa and Mahanama. The Dhamek Stupa marks the spot. Today it is a solid cylinder of bricks and stone, 43.6 metres high and 28 metres across. The first teaching also marked the formation of the sangha. Ancient sources describe the site as a sanctuary for animals. Xuanzang, visiting in 640 CE, recorded over 1,500 priests living here.

Para el visitante: Dhamek Stupa stands at Sarnath, near Varanasi.

Jetavana was where the Buddha gave the majority of his teachings; he spent nineteen of his 45 monsoon retreats here. The merchant Anathapindika wanted the park of Prince Jeta, who jokingly said he would sell it if it were covered with gold coins. Jeta, moved by Anathapindika's earnestness, gave the last small spot himself. Today Jetavana is a historical park with remains of monasteries and huts.

Para el visitante: A historical park near Sravasti.

According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, the Buddha undertook a months-long journey from Rajagriha and attained parinirvana shortly after his arrival in Kushinagar. Pilgrims come today to the Parinirvana Temple, where a reclining statue of the Buddha, 6.10 metres long, is carved from a single block of red sandstone. Just behind the temple stands the Parinirvana Stupa, also called the Nirvana Chaitya.

Para el visitante: The temple and stupa are in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.