🇳🇵🇮🇳 Buddha's birthplace + Nirvana
In addition to gaining an in-depth understanding of Buddhist history during this trip, I also followed local customs, bought Indian clothing, took photos, and enjoyed authentic Indian food. During the trip, I also saw Tibetan nuns holding lambs, and local children who were sitting in the open air to attend classes with great difficulty. On the way back, the ground at the Indian airport was covered with flowers, as they were celebrating the local festival of Lights, Happy Diwali 🎇 It was such a rewarding experience!
Buddha Śākyamuni was born in India at that time; it is now Lumbinī in Nepal. This holy site was restored and preserved through the cooperation of the United Nations, the Nepalese government, and Japanese architects.
According to legend, the Buddha's mother Mayadevi gave birth to the Buddha from her right rib under the Asoka tree in a garden here, so the locals also built the Mayadevi Temple here. History also records that when Master Xuanzang went to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures, he also saw the Ashoka Pillar in Lumbini!
The place where Buddha passed away at the age of 80 is located in Kuśi-nagara, India. At that time, eight kings wanted to fight for the relics after the cremation of Buddha. In the end, the relics of Buddha were divided equally among the eight kings, and each took it back to his own country for collection and worship!
200 years later, when King Ashoka unified India, he collected the Buddha's relics obtained by the eight previous kings, took the meaning of the 84,000 Buddhist methods, and further divided the relics into 84,000 parts. He built 84,000 pagodas in various places to worship them, in order to promote Buddhism and protect the people.
#Nepal
#Buddha's Birthplace
#Lumbini
#Lumbini
#Buddha's Nirvana
#Kuśi-nagara
#Kusinagara