Lumbini: Birthplace of Buddha

From Chitwan to Lumbini – The next stop on the cultural road trip around Nepal.

The next day our Nepal road trip took us to the birthplace of Buddha. Lumbini is located in the Terai plains of southern Nepal and is one of the most important spiritual sites in the world. Mayadevi Temple was built over 2200 years ago, celebrating the birthplace of the Lord Buddha (623 B.C.) and is the focal point for a compound of temples erected by other nations with strong ties to the Buddhist faith, such as Japan, Myanmar, China and Germany. The German temple is probably the grandest of all the temples in the park, from the size, detail to the colorful adornments, this is the crown jewel (as far as opulence).

The temples in Lumbini are spread out over a large area, so we rented a rickshaw guide who took us from the main gate to a strategic spot to start walking the grounds. Every so often our rickshaw driver would be waiting to take us to the next area in the park. Again, it’s quite spread out and to walk the entire thing would have not only been tiresome, but would have taken a great deal longer. By the end of the day the rickshaw guide dropped us off at our Lumbini hotel, I think the entire four hours cost the equivalent of $5, well worth it.

We once again stayed at a Landmark hotel, however this one wasn’t quite as nice as the Forest Park location in Chitwan. From the outside and lobby it looked pretty nice, however our accommodations were a bit more on the modest side.

If you’ve ever been to Lumbini, please leave a comment below and share your experience.