Facts about Lumbini
Lumbini sits in the foothills of the Himalaya mountains, twenty five kilometers east of the municipality of Kapilavastu, where tradition says that the Buddha lived until the age of twenty nine.
The holy site of Lumbini lies within the Lumbini monastic zone, in which only monasteries can be built; shops, hotels adn restaurants have been prohibited.
Lumbini is situated approximately 25 kilometers (16 mi) east of the Kapilavastu.
Lumbini is the location of Puskarini (or Holy Pond) where the Buddha's mother took the ritual dip prior to his birth and where he, too, had his first bath.
At sites near Lumbini, according to tradition, earlier Buddhas were born, achieved ultimate awakening, and finally relinquished earthly form.
Lumbini is one of four paramount pilgrimage places related to the life of the Buddha, the others being at Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya, and Sarnath.
The discovery led to the restoration of Lumbini into an active Buddhist monastery and one of the holiest pilgrimage sites in Buddhism.
Buddhist tradition marks Lumbini as the place where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama in 563 B.C.E.
Lumbini has a number of temples, including the Mayadevi temple, and others under construction.
The great benefactor of Buddhism, Asoka the Great, erected a pillar to mark the place of Buddha's birth in Lumbini during the third century B.C.E.
When Buddhism declined in India due to the re-invigoration of Hinduism and the arrival of Islam in the eighth century C.E., Lumbini became a lost site.
On the way, she stepped down from her palanquin to have a walk in the beautiful flower garden of Lumbini Park, Lumbini Zone, Nepal.