9:30 Am: Pick from your Hotel

10:00 Am: Start sightseeing tour

Lumbini
Lumbini is the birth place of Siddhartha Gautam Buddha and the founder of Buddhism, known as Buddha or the enlightened one. This is confirmed by the existence of an inscribed pillar erected 318 years after the event by the great Buddhist emperor Ashoka, who visited Lumbini in 245 BC and left a number of his famous inscribed pillars in the region.

Sacred Garden: Which is spread over 8 sq.km possesses all the treasures of the historic area. It has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. This is the place where Lord Buddha was born. The site is marked by Ashoka Stone Pillar which has an engraved inscription identifying the spot as the birth place of LORD BUDDHA. On one side of the pillar is the MAYADEVI TEMPLE the temple of the mother of Lord Buddha. Recent excavations have turned up a stone bearing Foot Prints of Lord Buddha.

The Puskerni Pond: Located south of the Ashokan Pillar is the pond where Queen Mayadevi the mother of Lord Buddha is believed to have taken a bath before giving birth to LORD BUDDHA. Many countries have built TEMPLES, MONASTERIES OR STUPA in Sacred Garden in the international Monastery Zone and there has been global initiative to promote the place Lumbini

Ashoka Pillar: The pillar carrying an inscription identifying the holy site as the birthplace, is situated nearby the Sacred Garden. To one side of Ashoka pillar is the Mayadevi Temple. Recent excavations have turned up a stone bearing a “foot imprint”, indicating the exact place of birth.

Japanese Peace Stupa: The Japan Peace Stupa is situated at the northern end of Lumbini. Built by the Nippon Jon Myohoji of Japan, the 41-m tall edifice is visible from a distance. Four different Buddha statues are set into the stupa’s dome to face the four cardinal directions.

Royal Thai Monastery: The Royal Thai Monastery is located in the vicinity of the birthplace of the Buddha at the Lumbini Sacred Garden, Lumbini, Nepal. The construction has been funded by the Royal Thai Government and the devoted Thai Buddhists followers. The project was initiated to honour the celebration of commemorating the 50th Anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s accession to the Throne.

Korean Monastery: The Monastery is quite a sight, and after seeing about 10 over the next few days, it’s up there with one of the nicest. It was huge. Oriental and huge. Just standing there in the middle of nowhere, all temple like. I checked in to my 4 bed ‘dorm’ room, although it’s more like a shared quarters. A large room with a separate toilet room and laundry room, all concrete, complete with buckets and taps and hanging space for laundry, quite convenient. The ‘sleeping’ part of the room was huge, and complete with a very thin (surprisingly not all that uncomfortable) sleeping mat and blanket, which I used as extra padding, and of course the more than necessary mosquito net. The room started off with two of us, and ended up with four, nice and cosy! We had fans in the room and enough power outlets for technology which is always handy. Those Koreans sure do know how to cater for the pilgrim!

13:00 Pm – Drive back to Hotel