Lumbini is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi district of Nepal. It is the place where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha Gautama lived roughly between 623 and 543 BCE and he founded Buddhism as Gautama Buddha. Lumbini is one of four magnets for pilgrimage that sprang up in places pivotal to the life of the Buddha, the others being at Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya and Sarnath.

Lumbini, where Buddha lived until the age of 29, has a number of temples, including the Mayadevi temple, which shows the exact place where he was born and others like monasteries from many different countries in the world. Also located here is the Puskarini or Holy Pond where the Buddha's mother took the ritual dip prior to his birth and where he, too, had his first bath, as well as the remains of Kapilavastu palace. At other sites near Lumbini, earlier Buddhas were, according to tradition, born, achieved ultimate awakening and finally relinquished earthly form.

For bikers: The distance to Kathmandu is 300 kilometers. The journey can be done in one day. The trip can be done otherwise according to our recommendation. You can head there from Chitwan (150 kilometers apart) on the only flat and straight highway in Nepal which should be interesting if you have done other routes beforehand (complete different feel in comparison with the narrow zigzags elsewhere). From there you can take take a 200 kilometers drive up to Pokhara in what I consider the most challenging and beautiful road. Lumbini is only 5 kilometers away from the Indian border, which should be interesting to visit if you are willing to experience a very lively and mixed Nepali/Indian fusion. There you can meet comers from India or ones heading there. You can get a lot of useful informations and accounts if you are planning on heading towards India next.