I just spent a few days in Lumbini - the birthplace of Buddha around 2500 years ago, according to the Buddhist history. The central temple marking the exact site is quite simple, and surrounded by ruins from the original temple built on the site.
The most visualy impressive part of the park here was the giant tree next to the sacred pool - a replica, i guess, of what it might've been like when Buddha's mother visited here?
There were quite a few other pilgrims around, mostly Nepalis and people from neighbourng Buddhist nations. It was a bit strange to see an orange-robed old monk from Sri Lanka walking around with his digital video camera in hand. But then I didnt feel so bad to be snapping a few photos myself :)
It was nice & cool under the giant old tree too, so i sat with David for a while & played another game of chess in our series. We failed to recieve any great inspiration from our mental efforts beneath the tree tho, so no emulating Lord Buddha's enlightenment just yet...
There's also about 10 more temples and monasteries within a couple of km of the main temple too, each supported by different nations' Buddhists and supposedly designed in a corresponding style. The 'German' temple didnt seem very German to me, but it was probably the most impressive of them all. Every surface was covered in paintings of Buddha & his followers in different settings, or various nature scenes, representing the peacefulness of coexisting with nature :) There were also 4 giant golden prayer wheels outside the temple, which the devout (or curious) would turn in order to send their prayers to the heavens automatically. I gave the wheel a little spin too - it cant hurt can it??
The Vietmnese temple just down the road was still partially under construction, but we decided to hop over the gates to have a look around anyway. They were trying to create an alpine setting by building some snow-clad mountains either side of the stairs leading up to the main temple. It felt a bit like beng inside some new theme park that was as-yet unfinished. But I can imagine the tourists & pilgrims that visit a century or more from now will be amazed at the effort that went into building so many elaborate temples.
It also seems a bit ironic to have many millions of dollars invested in building temples, when the majority of the citizens of Nepal struggle to find a job or earn enough money to feed & educate their families.
