Lumbini, birthplace of the Buddha

Lumbini, on the plains of southern Nepal, is where tradition places the birth of Siddhartha Gautama. The Maya Devi Temple shelters the archaeological remains associated with that moment, beside the sacred pool and the pillar the emperor Ashoka had raised in the third century BCE with an inscription commemorating it. The World Heritage site is managed by the Lumbini Development Trust, a Nepali government body that also looks after the monastic zone, where various Buddhist countries have built monasteries, and other places linked to the Buddha's life such as Kapilvastu, Ramagrama and Devadaha.