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LUMBINI TOUR
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Situated in the foothills of Himalayas in
modern Nepal, Lumbini is a small town and a
famous Buddhists Pilgrimage. Siddhartha
Gautam, the Lord Buddha, born in 623 B.C.
and could both walk and talk at that time,
was born in the fascinating city of Lumbini,
now a famous Pilgrimage centre. It is
believed that Buddha himself have identified
four places of future pilgrimage in the
Parinibbana Sutta, namely, the sites of his
birth, enlightenment, first discourse and
death. All of these events occurred in open
under the trees.
Now listed under the World Heritage Site,
Now, two archaeologists from England's
University of Bradford have presented new
evidence that Kapilavastu, wherein lies
Lumbini, is modern Tilaurakot, a Nepalese
town about 230 Kilometers west of Kathmandu.
It is not often that when Buddha's name is
mentioned, King Ashoka's is not. In the
sacred Gardens of Lumbini, the birthplace of
Buddha converges the Ashokan Pillar,
carrying the inscription identifying the
spot as the birthplace of Buddha. It is
believed that Lord Buddha's mother Maya Devi,
while on her way to her parent's home sat in
the gardens to take rest and was convulsed
by pains immediately thus declaring the
birth of a Great Man. She gave birth while
holding a drooping branch of a Sal tree. |
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Some
important places in Lumbini are: |
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• The Lumbini Garden :
This is
the site marked by a certain stone pillarn
erected by the Indian Emperor Ashoka at
about 245 B.C. The most important discovery
in this place is a stone marked to suggest
the exact birthplace of Buddha.
• Mayadevi Temple :
This temple,
dedicated to the mother of lord Buddha- Maya
Devi, was excavated a few years ago. Many
sculptures and carving in which the figures
and designs are only slightly projecting
from their background are seen here.
• Pushkarni pond :
This is the pond
where Mayadevi is said to have had a bath
before giving birth to Buddha.
• Ramagram :
It is believed to
be the maternal home of Buddha. This is
where we can see the biggest stupa, with
important relics. It is said that it was
built around 600 B.C.
Lumbini has many
new monasteries occupied by different
nations. Some notable ones are:
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The Myanmar temple was built with the
contribution from Burmese Buddhist. The
monastery is an attractive big white
structural monument with a golden pinnacle
soaring into the sky.
• The China temple,
which is a very beautiful pagoda styled
temple with many prayer and meditation
cells.
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The Korean Temple is a beautifully set
temple having many remarkable images of
Buddha.
Besides these, there are others like the
Nepal Buddhia Temple and the Dharmaswami
Buddhist monastery. Other countries like
Japan , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Vietnam ,
etc. are also contributing to build more
temples and monasteries.
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More............
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