Our Many Moons of Honey: Nepal: Buddha's Birth Place

Buddha inside Chinese Monastery

Our last stop on our Nepal tour was Lumbini, a very small town close to the Indian border. Lumbini’s only draw is the fact that in 563BC Siddhartha Gautama, a.k.a. Buddha, was born there. As such, it is a pilgrimage sight for Buddhist from all over the world.

The exact spot of Buddha’s birth was by a lake under a Bodhi tree which is now marked by the Maya Devi temple. This temple is set in the middle of a large 4km by 2.5km park known as Lumbini Development Zone, which was designed by Japanese architect Kenzo Tange in the late 1970’s. It is a work in progress as it is in need of funding. At the moment, there is a dry canal that separates the Development Zone into two Monastic zones: the West Monastic Zone, which houses Buddhist communities from the Mahayana Buddhist sect and the East Monastic Zone, which houses Buddhist communities from the Theravada sect. Each sect has its own interpretation of Buddhism and can be distinguished by the colour of the robes worn. The Mahayana school wears maroon robes and the Theravada school is recognizable by its saffron coloured robes and is common in South East Asia and Sri Lanka.

Royal Thai Buddhist Monastery

Within the Development Zone Buddhist communities from around the world have built or are building monasteries, with the German Monastery in the West Monastic Zone (called the Great Drigung Kagyud Lotus Stupa) being the most colourful and ornate one we saw and the Thai style monastery or wat, called the Royal Thai Buddhist Monastery, in the East Monastic Zone, being the most beautiful and impressive being built all in white marble. When finished, the Development Zone will be comprised of landscaped lakes and monasteries constructed by Buddhist communities from around the world with a vision for the sacred garden to be entirely surrounded by water and only navigable by boat.

M all sexy on his bike

Outside of walking or biking around the peaceful Development Zone, there is really nothing else to do in Lumbini. The Lumibini Bazaar, which sits outside the Development Zone and houses a restaurant and a few guesthouses is nothing but an intersection where the buses drop everyone off. We have to say that around Lumbini was the dustiest and smoggiest area we have been to in Nepal and the only place we chose to ride with our luggage on top of the bus. Go figure. Needless to say it was a very dusty, dirty and bumpy ride. 　

For more pictures, as always, click HERE (password: buddha).