10 February, Tuesday, Lumbini

7:00 wake up call
7:30 breakfast
8:00 our private driver waiting outside.

A tear full sad goodbye to Suk and on our way to Lumbini. This time a luxury way of traveling: an almost new comfortable Suzuki Swift new model with private driver.
12:oo (3 hours and 45 minutes) arrival in Lumbini at the Buddha Maya Garden Hotel. (110 km from Chitwan).

This hotel is located 10 minutes walkway from the single most important spot of Lumbini, which is the "marker stone" placed in the "Sanctum Sanctorum" representing the birthplace of Buddha.
The Buddha Maya Garden Hotel is member of the KGH (Kathmandu Guesthouse) Group of Hotels & resorts, but honesty makes me say that it was a bit in a deteriorated state.

Lumbini, the Birthplace of Lord Buddha, World Heritage Site (entrance fee Rs 50 p/p).

"After I am no more, o Ananda! men of belief will visit the place with faith, curiosity and devotion..... Lumbini, the place where I was born. The path to ultimate peace is spiritual discipline." - Lord Buddha -

The Pilgrimage:
Today devotees and visitors from all over the world come to Lumbini, the timeless place where ancient monuments glorify the birthplace of Sakyamuni and bear witness to the record of the noteworthy visits by famous dignitaries. The pilgrims (a large group of Japanese while we are there) deeply immerse themselves in the serene spiritual atmosphere of Lumbini.
The famous Emperor Asoka - guided by his spiritual teacher Upagupta - made a pilgrimage to this holy site in 249 BC. He erected the Asokan Pillar, as a marker stone of the exact birthplace of the Buddha.
This pillar bears the first epigraphical evidence.
"Twenty years after his coronation Kin Priyadarsi erected this stone pillar to commemorate his visit. Because the Lord Buddha was born here. He made the village of Lumbini free from taxes and subject to pay only one-eight of the produce as land revenue instead of the usual rate. (1067).
Three famous Chinese pilgrims also visited Lumbini (in the 4th century AD, 5th century AD and 7th century AD). They saw the stump of the native tree, the Asokan Pillar, the Holy Pond, the oily River and the source of warm and cool water springs.
King Ripu Malla (1312 AD) visited Lumbini. The association of Lumbini with the Buddha went slowly to oblivion. In 1930's a large-scale excavation at the holy complex was conducted and the archaeological site was covered up, which conservation has been taken care of since 1972.
During the years generous devotees erected numerous structures to pay homage to the great master of which one can see the remains in the Sacred Garden. (picture tree with flags and remains).
The Mayadevi Temple (picture) is the heart of all monuments. Inside this temple one can find the Marker Stone, located deeply buried in the Sanctum Sanctorum (size 70x40x10 cm) covered with bulletproof glass, the EXACT location of birth. Above this stone is the image of May Devi (Nativity Sculpture). It depicts May Devi, holding the branch of a tree with her right hand for support. Next to her, her sister is standing in supporting posture in time of delivery.
Close by the Asokan Pilar and the Mayadevi Temple is the Puskarini (Holy Pond), believed to be the pond in which Maya Devi took her bath prior to give birth to the Lord Buddha. It is also the pond where the infant was given his first purification bath. (picture pond and 3 monks).

The Master Plan of Lumbini covers an area of 1 x 3 sq. miles comprising 3 zones of a square mile each. The Sacred Garden - The Monastic Zone and New Lumbini Village (gateway to the outer world where the visitors can find hotels and restaurants.)

The Monastic Zone is situated in the center with the forest area to the north of the Sacred Garden. There are 42 plots of land each allotted for new monasteries of Theravada and Mahayana sects of Buddhism.

With a rickshaw we visited a few places: The Eternal Peace Flame (picture), the Royal Thai Monastery, Vietnam Monastery and the Great Lotus Stupa - Germany (picture).
Also in the Monastic Zone there is a research center, a library, an auditorium and a museum, providing facilities for research and study of Buddhism.

With the rickshaw driver we agreed on a price of 150 Rs for ALL temples (but the area proved to be much bigger then we expected) plus the ride back to the hotel. Arriving at the hotel we gave him 200 Rs but the cheeky driver of course wanted more. He got shushed away by the hotel security who obviously knew the driver and his tricks.
Time to relax in the hotel garden after this long walk and ride, dinner, but to our disappointment NO night-cap, because the hotel had no longer a bar and the restaurant was only serving beer or wine.
The only thing left to do was another early night, not being such a big problem with our Lumbini-Pokhara tour ahead tomorrow morning.

Suba Rathri
Sanghita