Home › Magazine › Winter 1999 › Pilgrims, Peace, and Politics: Lumbini, Birthplace of Gautama Buddha

Pilgrims, Peace, and Politics: Lumbini, Birthplace of Gautama Buddha

The Buddha predicted that his birthplace would become one of four places that “men of belief” would visit, but today, modern-day politics grow amidst the ruins and faster than new monasteries.

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Having traveled a day and night from India by motor scooter, train, multiple buses, and a short stint on a bicycle rickshaw, I opt to walk the last leg of the journey to Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha. The twenty-two kilometers of road cross the Nepali Terai - the flat, fertile region of southern Nepal stretching from the Indian border to the Himalayan foothills. Growing most of Nepal’s food, the Terai is covered with rice fields,…Having traveled a day and night from India by motor scooter, train, multiple buses, and a short stint on a bicycle rickshaw, I opt to walk the last leg of the journey to Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha. The twenty-two kilometers of road cross the Nepali Terai - the flat, fertile region of southern Nepal stretching from the Indian border to the Himalayan foothills. Growing most of Nepal’s food, the Terai is covered with rice fields, each bordered by small stretches of sal trees and a grid of twisted grass footpaths.

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