Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

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Ancient · Buddhist · Nepal

Maya Devi Temple, Lumbini

मायादेवी मन्दिर

Lumbini, Lumbini Province · 27.4696°, 83.2759°

Maya Devi (birthplace of Gautama Buddha)Maurya—Buddhist circuitUNESCO World Heritage
Sacred since
550 BCE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
Ashokan brick temple c. 249 BCE; timber shrine of the 6th c. BCE beneath
Maurya

History & significance

Marks the birthplace of Gautama Buddha and ranks with Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar among the four holiest Buddhist places, set beside its sacred pushkarani pool and garden. Ashoka built a brick temple here around 249 BCE, and excavations from 2010 by UNESCO, Durham University and Nepal's Department of Archaeology uncovered a timber shrine of the sixth century BCE beneath it, showing successive rebuildings from the Buddha's own lifetime; the temple houses the marker stone and a nativity relief.

Sthala katha — the traditional account

What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.

Tradition holds that Queen Maya, travelling to her father's kingdom, gave birth to the Buddha under a sal tree at Lumbini and died seven days later, to be reborn in the Tushita heaven.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-27 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Maurya