After I am no more, Ananda! Men of belief will visit with
faithful curiosity and devotion to the four places - where I was
born … attained enlightenment … gave the first sermons … and passed
into Nirvana.
- The Buddha (c.543-463 BC)
For the world's one billion Buddhists, LUMBINI , 22km
west of Bhairawa, is where it all began. The Buddha's
birthplace is arguably the single most important historical
site in Nepal - not only the source of one of the world's great
religions but also the centre of Nepal's most significant
archeological finds , dating from the third century BC. With
only modest ruins but powerful associations, it's the kind of place
you could whizz round in two hours or soak up for days.
The Buddha has long been a prophet without much honour in his
own country: the area around Lumbini is now predominantly Muslim,
while the main local festival is a Hindu one, commemorating
the Buddha as the ninth incarnation of Vishnu - it's held on the
full moon of the Nepali month of Baisaakh (April-May). Celebrations
of Buddha Jayanti (the Buddha's birthday) are comparatively
meagre because, as the local monks will tell you with visible
disgust, Buddhists from the high country think Lumbini is too hot
in May. Until recently, poor access and a lack of tourist
facilities put off most pilgrims, who instead stuck to the more
developed Indian sites of Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar.
But Lumbini is changing. In the 1970s the government, with the
backing of the United Nations, set aside land and authorized a
hugely ambitious master plan for a five-square-kilometre
religious park consisting of monasteries, cultural
facilities, gardens, fountains and a tourist village. After a very
slow start, the plan is finally starting to take shape under the
direction of (or perhaps in spite of) the Lumbini Development
Trust. Several national temples and monasteries have been built or
are under construction, 600,000 trees have been planted, and
Japanese tour groups have begun to add Lumbini to their whirlwind
tours of the Buddhist holy sites. An international airport has even
been mooted. Of course there is ample cause for scepticism, yet if
the remaining plans come off, Lumbini could grow to be quite a
cosmopolitan religious site - the only one of its kind in the
world.
Like many places in Nepal, Lumbini is much more enjoyable in
early morning and late afternoon, when it's cool and peaceful. If
you only see it in the heat of the day, with tour groups and school
parties trooping around and the sounds of construction activity
emanating from the temples, you'll probably be disappointed. For
this reason it's highly recommended to stay overnight in Lumbini,
despite some logistical difficulties