ChillNepal team9 Oct 2026 1 min read
Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha (c. 563 BCE per Buddhist tradition), lies in Rupandehi district and was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 1997. Devdaha, the birthplace of Mayadevi, the Buddha's mother, also lies in the district. The district is named after the Rupandevi temple in the garden of Lumbini, where Queen Maya visited and gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama. Emperor Ashoka visited Lumbini in the 3rd century BCE and marked the spot with a monolithic pillar, rediscovered at Rupandehi in 1896. In the Buddha's time, Lumbini lay east of Kapilavastu and south-west of Devadaha of the Shakya oligarchic republic.
Researched by the ChillNepal team from published sources. Spot something out of date? Tell us from the place's page.
