Hugh and Colleen Gantzer were ding research on Buddhism. They wanted to visit Lumbini. So they had come to Sonauli, on the Indo-Nepalese border. In the seventh century B.C., a little republic near Sonauli was ruled by Suddhodnhana. His queen Mahamya, on her way to her parent's place, gave birth to a son. The palce was Lumbini and her son was Gautama, the Buddha.

Lumbini is of three square miles, one square mile is for the tourist area, another is for monastries and temples and the thired is for scared forests. In Lumbini there wrer tourists, Buddhist Monks and men from Nepal, Srilanka, Sikkim, West Benagl and Uttar Pradesh. In most sacred area of Lumbini is a small hut like temple for 'Maya Devi', the Lord's mother, with the image of the birth of the BUddha. The old Maya Devi temple was  demolished to reveal the exact spot where the Lord was born. Outside the MAya Devi temple is the "Prayer Area" where the devotes chant softly.

A Stone Pillar behind the 'Prayer Area', erected by Emperor Asoka. had helped the German archaeologist Dr.Alois A. Furhrer, in 1886, to locate Lumbini, with its Brshni inscriptions. Behind the pillar is the pushkarani pool where Devi bathed before childbirth and cleansed her new born child.

The great birth reached across 26 centuries and made Lumbini flower with faith and monastries. Near the entrance, there is a Nepalese temple and close to it is a Tibetan temple. The temple hall has hundreds of butter lamps and the serene image of the Buddha. A group of European visitors were taken round Lumbini by an American Buddhist nun. One woman in the group asked why vajra represented such a nonviloent faith.The nun answered that in Buddhist iconography, the vajra represented the illumination of teh mind with sudden truth. The questioner doubtfully asked if it was a soft thunderbolt.The guide nodded.

Back in this room, in Sonauli, the writers felt the Soft Thunder of Lumbini.


Like it on Facebook, Tweet it or share this article on other bookmarking websites.

No comments