Here I Yam: In the Footsteps of the Buddha

***You've likely heard of the recent political demonstrations in Nepal. All volunteers are safe, as well as everyone in my village. That's all I'll say for now.

Birthdays are no fun for a neurotic. Behind the cake and celebration is always a low hum of dread. But this year, I wanted things to be different. After all I'm living in the land of the Buddha--who better understood change and impermanence and overcoming the transitory nature of existence? So, my birthday gift to myself was a trip to Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, to learn more about his life and teachings.

On the early morning of September 4th, my 24th birthday, I met up with my friends and fellow volunteers, Alyssa and Tyrone, and off we went to follow in the footsteps of the Buddha.

Buddha & the Singapore Monastery

Lumbini is in the Terai, the lowland plains of southern Nepal, right across the border from India. As the crow flies, it's only about 60 miles from my village to Lumbini, but getting there is quite a logistical feat.

I started my trip with a 40-minute walk uphill to the highway (I will never get used to this walk), during which I was careless with my hat, dropping it and not realizing until I had almost reached the summit, of course. I started back downhill, cursing the entire time, until I came upon my alky neighbor, wearing my hat atop his own topi, more than happy to return it to me like a dolphin retrieving a dropped necklace from the bottom of the ocean. I was quite grateful to him, as he saved me from a significant amount of downhill and uphill trudging.

The next leg of the journey was a van ride down the winding, narrow roads of Arghakhanchi. I purposely sat in the back row, as I love being jostled around as the driver swerves to avoid rocks, landslide debris, and other vehicles (this is about as much of an adrenaline junkie as I'll ever be). After a few hours, we descended from the mid-hills into the plains, turning onto the East-West Highway, which spans the width of the entire country. Despite the flatness, driving in the Terai is no less of an adventure. The swerving continues, but the obstacles change: cows (stray cattle are a huge issue), horses, goats, and cyclists.

We missed a few shortcuts that could have shaved a considerable amount of time off our trip, so we ended up having to take a bus and motorized rickshaw to reach our destination. Still, we made it, all in one piece and without vomiting, unlike some of our fellow passengers.

View from the hotel restaurant

The one adjective that overrode all others upon reaching Lumbini: hot! I'd thought my nearly eight months in Nepal had accustomed me to heat and relentless sun, but I was not prepared for the desiccating conditions of the Terai, my God! That first afternoon in Lumbini, we rested at the hotel, venturing out only after it had cooled down enough to grab dinner. I thought it was fitting that the restaurant owner had the same portly build as the Laughing Buddha, but I have never seen a man sweat so much in my life. I can only imagine how hot the kitchen must have been. Alyssa, Tyrone, and I decided on an early start the next morning to beat the heat.

The Laughing Buddha (aka Fat Buddha)

Before I dive into my experience, let me provide some background on Buddha and the development of Lumbini as a pilgrimage site.

First, a short biographical sketch of the Buddha, known as Siddhartha Gautam before his enlightenment. Siddhartha's life begins with a dream: Queen Maya, his mother, dreamt that a white elephant with six tusks entered her right side. That night, Siddhartha was conceived.

Ten months later, Maya felt the stirrings of labor and set out for her maternal home to give birth. Halfway, she stopped in a beautiful garden, Lumbini, where she gave birth painlessly to Siddhartha while holding the branch of a sal (or Ashoka) tree. The newborn Siddhartha immediately took seven steps in each direction, with a lotus flower blossoming under his feet at each step. He then pointed at heaven and earth and declared that this would be his final birth. Seven days later, Maya died, and Siddhartha was raised in his father's kingdom, Kapilvastu, in the care of his maternal aunt and adoptive mother, Prajapati.

Baby Buddha takes 7 steps

Many Vedic priests (from the proto-Hindu tradition) came to see the infant, proclaiming that he would either become a great ruler or a revered holy man. Siddhartha's father, King Suddhodana, wished for his son to inherit the throne, so he surrounded Siddhartha with an abundance of sensual pleasures and kept him away from spiritual teachings.

When he was 29 years old, Siddhartha asked to venture beyond the palace walls, and the king assented. Outside of sanitized palace life, Siddhartha was confronted with the Four Sights: a dead man, a sick man, an old man, and a wandering ascetic. His illusion of life as an endless parade of pleasure was shattered.

Siddhartha left the palace, overwhelmed by suffering. He spent the next six years studying with various gurus and practicing extreme asceticism, but nothing brought him peace. He realized neither hedonism nor self-denial leads to enlightenment. Siddhartha decided to sit under a Bodhi tree until he knew the truth about suffering. There, under the tree, he realized the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path, which form the foundation of Buddhist philosophy. Siddhartha had become Buddha, the Awakened One.

For the next 45 years, Buddha wandered across Northern India/Southern Nepal, founding monastic communities and teaching people of all castes. At 80 years old, he died in the forest between two sal trees, entering parinirvana. In his final sermon, Buddha named four sacred sites that devout Buddhists should visit: (1) the place where he was born, Lumbini, (2) the place where he attained Enlightenment, Bodh Gaya, (3) the place where he gave his first sermon, Sarnath, and (4) the place where he passed into final nirvana, Kushinagar.

Lighting butter lamps @ Lumbini

That's the broad strokes overview of the Buddha's life, anyway. After his passing, hagiography blends with the historical record. King Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire came to Lumbini in the 3rd century BC, constructing a pillar commemorating his visit. Chinese pilgrims wrote about Lumbini in the 4th and 7th centuries AD; later, Malla kings from the far western Khas Kingdom made pilgrimages in the 14th century. But as the influence of Buddhism waned in South Asia, Lumbini was largely forgotten. It wasn't until the end of the 19th Century, when the Ashoka Pillar was rediscovered by German-British archeologists and Nepali generals (I won't go into this rediscovery, but it's full of political machinations, forgery, and shady characters), that interest in the site was renewed.

Lumbini, as it stands today, is the result of collaboration between the United Nations and the Government of Nepal in the 1960s and '70s. In 1978, Japanese architect Kenzo Tange submitted his master plan for the Lumbini Complex (originally scheduled for completion by 1985, most of the complex is still under development as far as I could tell). The 1 x 3 mile complex is divided into three zones: (1) the Sacred Garden, containing the Budhha's actual birthplace and other archeological sites, (2) The Monastic Zone, containing 42 plots for Buddhist monasteries from around the world, and (3) New Lumbini Village, containing conference and administrative centers and a museum.

On our first full day in Lumbini, Alyssa, Tyrone, and I decided to first visit the Monastic Zone by bike. It was a feast for the eyes, showcasing architectural styles from all over Asia. Divided into two sections, one for the Theravada and the other for Mahayana/Vajrayana branches of Buddhism, countries as disparate as Sri Lanka, South Korea, and Canada (built in the Tibetan style) were represented. I was most impressed with the Chinese temple, with its numerous halls, walkways and high walls, and the German monastery, with sculptures depicting scenes from the Buddha's life. I often read complaints about the Monastic Zone online. Yes, I concede that the infrastructure connecting the monasteries is poor, but I think people expect to find Disneyland at a religious site in a developing country. I was still able to enjoy moments of serenity.

German Stupa

Japanese Peace Pagoda

Myanmar Golden Pagoda

Statue of Buddha

Chinese Monastery

After visiting the Monastic Zone, we returned to our hotel to rest during the heat of the day. In the evening, we first ventured out to Buddha Gram, an animatronics show of Buddha's life. This might be the most underrated attraction in all of Lumbini. We were the first customers after the grand reopening, so they gave us prasad (i.e., bananas and coconut cookies) and took a group photo (I'm diligently checking their Facebook to see when they post it). There were eight rooms, eight scenes, and every room had a different issue: animatronics didn't move, no light, AC was leaking and creating a huge pool of water, no English-language option (God forbid I have to listen to Nepali in Nepal), etc. But once they get these issues ironed out, this place will be unbeatable. The voice acting and use of multimedia were way better than what I could have anticipated.

No photos allowed, but I snuck one anyway.
Animatronic Buddha under the Bodhi Tree.

For our last activity of the day, we visited the Sacred Garden with a tour guide. I have a personality defect that I'm loath to admit: I always have to repress the urge to one-up guides and piggyback their spiels with more information. Am I that fragile that I can't handle someone else having more expertise than me? This guide was well-informed and very friendly, so the impulse wasn't as strong this time around.

The Sacred Garden contains three main elements: the Maya Devi Temple, the Sacred Pond (Puskarini), and the Ashoka Pillar. As I mentioned earlier, Maya stopped in the garden of Lumbini to rest on her way to her home kingdom. In the garden, she took a bath in the Sacred Pond, walked 25 paces, and gave birth. Outwardly, the Maya Devi temple is a squat, modern white building (constructed in 2003), but inside are the archeological ruins of a temple built for Ashoka's visit, the same visit in which the pillar was constructed, dating to the 3rd Century BC. Here is a translation of the inscription on the Ashoka Pillar:

King [Ashoka], beloved of the Gods, having been anointed twenty years, himself came and worshipped, saying: 'Here Buddha Sakyamuni was born.' And he caused to be made a stone bearing a horse, and he caused this stone pillar to be erected. Because the [Buddha] was born here, the village of [Lumbini] was made free of taxes and entitled to the eight part (of the produce).

Extensive excavations also revealed a marker stone pinpointing the exact location of Buddha's birth (found 25 paces away from the pool and in the same direction as described by Chinese pilgrims in the 7th century AD) and a nativity sculpture from the 4th century AD.

The marker stone is protected by bulletproof glass, but the rest of the site is unprotected. Pilgrims threw coins on the temple as offerings, and gold leaf was rubbed onto some of the bricks. As our guide told us, September is a popular month for Sri Lankan Buddhists to make the pilgrimage, and they were identifiable by their all-white clothing. The atmosphere in the Sacred Garden was quite relaxing, with monks chanting and people engaged in meditation and silent reflection. I laid down for a moment under a Bodhi Tree, but unfortunately did not find the enlightenment I was seeking.

Maya Devi Temple, Ashoka Pillar, and the Sacred Pool

Ashoka Pillar, inscription faintly visible

Prayer flags hung from a Bodhi tree

The next day, we were off to visit more archeological sites related to the Buddha's early life. The drive itself from Lumbini to the neighboring district of Kapilvastu was one of my favorite excursions. The landscape and culture(s) of the Terai are so different from life in the mid-hills. For one, it's completely flat, with rice paddies stretching as far as the eye can see in every direction--interrupted only by mosques (flying the Saudi Arabian flag for Muhammad's birthday, this year on Sept. 4/5), brick factories, and solitary trees. There was a visible Muslim population: women in burqas walking along the highway or riding sidesaddle on the back of motorcycles, and men with dyed red hair and chin beards cycling down the road.

Nepal has been governed by mid-hill dynasties since the time of Prithvi Narayan Shah. Later, King Mahendra instituted a "one-country, one-language, one-dress policy" that excluded many of Nepal's ethnic groups along the southern border. The Terai exists on the periphery, geographically, politically, and culturally, and this has often led to (sometimes violent) clashes with Pahadis, people from the mid-hills. It's a fascinating topic, and I have to pick up some books about it the next time I'm in Kathmandu.

In the Kapilvastu District, we visited Tilaurakot, said to be the central palace of Buddha's youth; the Twin Stupas, where his mother and father are buried; and Kudan, where he reunited with his father, aunt, and son following his Enlightenment.

That morning was rainy, adding to the mysticism of these ancient sites. Only one layer of bricks from the original structures is visible; most everything else remains underground. The new structures are an interpretation of what might have once stood there, while boardwalks replicate where roadways would have been. Pottery shards and other artifacts uncovered during excavations have been moved next door to the Kapilvastu Museum.

A Hindu temple built during the 1800s, called Samai Mai, is still in use inside the Tilaurakot complex. Likewise, a Shiva Linga is prominently displayed at Kudan. There has long been cross-pollination between Buddhism and Hinduism, although the Buddha rejected the proto-Hindu religion of his time. Today, Hindus worship the Buddha as an avatar of the god Vishnu.

Nepal has submitted Tilaurakot and Kudan for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List. While I agree these sites are worthy based on their historic and religious merits, I'm not sure they're quite ready without further infrastructure development. And as UNESCO advises, "Uncover and preserve [archeological sites], don't create." (I can't remember which document I pulled this from, but I'm throwing quotes around it anyway).

Shiva Linga @ Kudan

Central Palace of the Tilaurakot Complex

Looking towards the Eastern Gate from which Buddha left behind his royal life

Twin Stupas

And that was our trip to Lumbini. A short journey that connected me with aspects of Nepal I haven't explored much yet: the Terai, its Buddhist past. Nepal is a country in transition, and I think this is captured by Lumbini's status. Torn between wanting to be a destination for international tourists and pilgrims alike, while also maintaining the archeological and religious integrity of the complex, Lumbini is sorta coming up short on both fronts. I have no solutions. All I can say is: good luck.

After three nights, we returned to our sites in Arghakhanchi. The return trip was so easy. I kept waiting for something frustrating to happen, but it never did.

This blog post was exceedingly long, but I hope it was somewhat informative and entertaining. This trip has kicked me into a Buddhism rabbit hole, and with 2,500 years of history to work with, I'm sure to be occupied for a long time.

Festival season, namely Dashian and Tihar, are rapidly approaching, and I look forward to sharing my experiences in my next post.

Thanks for reading!

And here is an extra photo dump: