KATHMANDU – POKHARA – LUMBINI TOUR - 12 Days Days

KATHMANDU

POKHARA

LUMBINI

Lumbini situated in mid Terai region is about 20 kilometers from Gautam Buddha International Airport (Bhairahawa) and 27 kilometers from the Indian border (Sunauli). From capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu it is 300 kilometers and seven eight-hour drive by road. The flight duration is only 35 minutes.

The World Heritage Committee decided to inscribe Lumbini as a World Heritage Site in 1997 on the basis of criteria (iii)’bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living  or which has disappeared’ and criteria (vi) ‘be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas or with beliefs with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance’.

As the birthplace of the Buddha, the sacred area of Lumbini is one of the holiest places of one of the world’s great religions, and its remains contain important evidence about the nature of Buddhist pilgrimage centers from a very early period.

Lumbini in Ancient Times

Most of the Buddhist literature places Lumbini between the Sakya Kinddom of Kapilvastu to the west and the Koliya kingdom of Devadaha to the east. Some 28 kilometers west of Lumbini is Tilaurakot, the ancient capital city of the Sakyas, and 37 kilometers east of Lumbini is Devadaha, the capital city of the Koliyas. Literatures mentions that Lumbini was a beautiful pleasure or recreational garden (known as Lumbini Kanna, Lumbini Vatika, Lumbini Upavana, Lumbini Pradimoksha Vana, Lumbini Chittalata Vana etc.) collectively maintained by both the Kingdoms during the lifetime of the Buddha.

The Birth of Siddhartha

On the full moon day of the month of Vaisakha (May/June), 623 BC, Maya Devi, the consort of King Suddhodana of Kapilvastu, arrived in Lumbini on her way to her maternal home in Devadaha. She enjoyed the beauty of the Lumbini garden, attended by her servants as she walked slowly and heavy with child, but suddenly she felt the pangs of labor. Realizing that the time of delivery had come, she bathed in the Sakya Puskarini located almost at the center of the garden and proceeded twenty-five steps to the north, seeking some support.

There was a beautiful Ashoka Tree (Saraca indica) in full bllom, and grasping a branch of that tree, she gave birth to her child.

This newly born child turned the wheel of the Law (Dhamma) in his youth and became known to generations to come simply as the Buddha, the apostle of peace. In his childhood he was named Siddhartha, which means ‘he whose aim is accomplished’. He was also called Sarvarthasiddha, meaning ‘one all of whose purposes have been fulfilled’. After the birth of the child, the desire of his father to have a son (artha) was fulfilled (siddha).

In Praise of Lumbini, the Buddha Said: 

"Ananda, this place (Lumbini) is where the Tathagata was born, this is a place which should be (visited and) seen by a person of devotion and which will cause awareness and apprehension of the nature of impermanence. at this place, Ananda, those who are on a pilgrimage to (this) shrine, if they should die with devotion in their hearts during the course of the pilgrimage, will after (their) death and dissolution of the body be reborn in a good destination, a fortunate celestial (deva) realm' (Mahaparinirvana Sutta).

The Last Breath

As the night drew near, the Buddha passed through a series of absorptions and entered into Mahaparinirvana (The stage of the cessation of consciousness and feeling) as he uttered his last words, “Subject to decay are all compound things; strive with earnestness’.

Next day, on the suggestion of Anurudha (one of the great disciples, and a cousin of the Buddha), Ananda (a cousin, and favorite disciple, who accompanied the Buddha for more than twenty years) announced the death of the Buddha, and the Mallas cried with grief, saying, “Too soon has the light gone out of the world”.

The Cremation of the Buddha

Six days passed in preparation for the cremation of the Buddha’s body, and on the seventh day the Mallas carried the body to the cremation site, with Mahakasyapa (a Brahmin of Magadha who became a close disciple of the Buddha, and was at the time of the Buddha’s death the senior member of the order) arriving just in time with three hundred twenty monks. The remains of the cremation were carried by the Mallas to their council hall. These set round them a trench of spears and a fence of bows and honored them with dance, song and offerings of garlands and perfumes.

The Distribution of the Relics

The Mallas at first refused to share the relics of the Buddha with other calimants, and the city of Kusinara for this reason was attacked by others. However, a Brahmin called Drona ended the quarrel over the relics of the one who had taught forbearance, and divided the relics into eight offerings for the following recipients:

1. The Mallas of Kusinara
2. King Ajatasatru of Magadha
3. The Lichhavis of Vaisali
4. The Sakyas of Kapilvastu
5. The Bulis of Allakappa
6. The Koliyas of Ramagrama
7. The Mallas of Pava and
8. The Brahmins of Vethadipa

After the division of the relics, and irrespective of ther claims, the Moriyas of Piphalivana were given embers from the funeral pyre, and Drona was permitted to take the iron vessel in which the Buddha’s body had been cremated. Stupas were erected over all these relics by the various claimants.