Birthplace of Lord Buddha

Birthplace of Lord Buddha

I would like to comment on Jeebit Shresta's Misleading Information (The Jakarta Post Sunday, Jan. 28, 1996) letter, in which the writer cites Nepal as the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha.

As a student of history, I did know that Lord Gautam Buddha - whose original name was Gautam, though he was also called Siddhartha Gautama and Sakhyamuni - was born approximately 2,500 years ago (historians differ over the exact dates of his birth and death) to a royal family of the Sakya kingdom. His father Suddhodhana, also known as Siddhodhana, was the ruler of Sakya and his mother was Maya.

According to the Jataka tales, which tell of the Buddha's birth, he was born in a small wana (forest) called Lumbini or Lumbini grove, near Kapilavastu, the capital of Sakya. At the time of his birth, Siddharta Gautam's mother Maya was on the way to her parents' home. Therefore, some say Siddharta Gautama was born in Kapilavastu because Lumbini, which is now in present-day Nepal, was neither a city nor a residential place at that time.

The Encyclopedia Americana (vol.4, 1994 edition) says that Gautama Buddha was born in Kapilavastu, northeast India, near the border of Nepal and the Sunday, India's leading newsweekly, also said in its May 7-13, 1995, edition that Siddhartha Gautama was born in northern India.

At the age of 29, Siddharta Gautam renounced his royal life. He left his sleeping wife Yasodhara and his son Rahul (also Rahula) in the palace and went in search of enlightenment. Under a bodhi (sacred pipal) tree at Bodh Gaya, a village in the central Bihar province, northern India, Siddharta Gautam attained enlightenment. He became the Buddha and spent the rest of his life in India while propagating his teachings. Bodh Gaya was the place where Buddhism, one of the world's great religions, was born and spread throughout the world, which is why the whole world recognizes India as the birthplace of Buddha and Buddhism.

V. ANJAIAH

Jakarta