Video: Buddha’s Birthplace: Lumbini, Nepal

A visit to the peaceful garden where Buddha was born. It was filmed in 1997 before the area was developed into a complex of temples and tourist attractions

This bodhi tree, a special breed of fig, is a very special tree in a very special place, the birthplace of the lord Buddha in Lumbini, Nepal. In Sanskrit, Lumbini means “the lovely.” When I visited Lumbini in 1997 it was newly honored by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. Then It was just a peaceful garden, a couple of temples, a Holy Pond, where Gautama Buddha’s mother, the Maya Devi bathed before giving birth, in 563 BCE, under a bodhi tree. Today Lumbini is a large planned complex of new temples and excavations, a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists and a tourist spot. But back in 1997, I shared this sacred place of peace and inspiration with birds and a handful of monks and worshipers. This is not meant to be a guide but merely a couple minutes of peace.