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The Maya Devi Temple is the spiritual heart of Lumbini, Nepal. In the sacred garden adjoining the temple you can visit the Ashokan Pillar, denoting the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, founder of Buddhism.
Around 563 BC, the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama is believed to have been born at the site of Lumbini. His mother, Maya Devi, was a Koliyan princess married to Suddhodana. In the Shakyas tradition, a tribe of rice-farmers near the India-Nepal border, the pregnant Queen Maya left Kapilavastu for her father’s kingdom to give birth. However, in Buddhist tradition, Buddha was born underneath a sal tree in Lumbini during the journey.
The original Maya Devi Temple was built during the Emperor Ashoka’s visit to Lumbini around 249 BC, using burnt bricks to safeguard the Nativity Sculpture and Marker Stone where Maya Devi had given birth. This temple was rediscovered in 1896 by General Khadga Shamsher and Dr. Anton Fuhrer, who also interpreted the Ashokan Pillar, recognising Lumbini as Buddha’s birthplace.
Today, the Maya Devi Temple is undoubtedly one of the most revered sites in Buddhism, and therefore a popular site of pilgrimage. Visitors can go inside the current temple to view the original temple platform dating from the 3rd century BC.
Source: www.historyhit...