Lumbini - Maya Devi temple

While waiting for the Indian embassies to compute the data about my visa, I went to Lumbini, which is the birth place of the Buddha. There is a huge park surrounding the place, and a lot of monasteries are under construction there. A few of them are finished already.


So this is the place, at the heart of Maya Devi temple



The 'exact place'



Just above the 'exact place'



These are ruins of very old stupas (3rd century BC) surrounding the 'place'



There is also a 'sacred pond' and a beautiful tree



This pillar has been first raised by the great Indian buddhist emperor Ashoka during the 3rd century BC. Ashoka had also built the stupa I visited in Sanchi near Bhopal, and did so in Bodhgaya, as in many sites all over India.