Lumbini
From Buddhist Encyclopedia
- Chinese : 藍毗尼園
Lumbini (Sanskrit for "the lovely") is the birth place of Gautama Buddha, a Buddhist pilgrimage site located in Rupandehi District, Lumbini Zone of Nepal near the Indian border. Lumbini is located 25 km east of the municipality of Kapilavastu, the place where the Buddha grew up and lived up to the age of 29. Kapilvastu is the name of place as well as the neighbouring district.
In 1896, Nepalese archaeologists (effort by Khadga Samsher Rana ) discovered a great stone pillar at the site, attributed to Emperor Ashoka. Records made by the Chinese pilgrim Fa Xian were used in the process of identifying this religiously acclaimed site. For Buddhists, this is one of the Four Pilgrimage Sites based around the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya, and Sarnath.
Lumbini, as of 1997, is an UNESCO World Heritage Site specifically nominated for the international World heritage program.
Etymology
Lumbini was originaly the name of a queen. When the Sakyan King Simhahanu (Siddhartha's grandfather) ruled the country Kapilavastu, he went out one day for a picnic with his queen Lumbini, accompanied by members of the court. On this trip they visited a very beautiful park. It so enchanted the queen that she asked the King to buy it and offer it to her. Upon inquiring, the King learned that it belonged to a rich man of the country who did not wish to sell it. The king consoled the queen, promising that he would give her an even better park.
He had a large area of the jungle cleared and before long turned it into a magnificent park. It was planted in a special order, with various kinds of fruit trees, flower bushes, and Sal trees. It was made beautiful with ponds full of lotuses and lilies, in every way, even more beautiful than the grove of the rich man.
Guards and watchmen were placed there to clean and look after the grounds. There was eating-place for visitors. The park was named 'Lumbini Grove'. The queen made it a sporting center for her relatives, the members of both the Sakyan and Koliyan royal families.
On the other side of this park, on the bank of the river Rohini was the city Devadaha, the capital of the Koliyan country. It was thus a common park for the pleasure of Sakyans and Koliyans alike.
