Ashoka Pillar, Lumbini

The Ashoka Pillar at Lumbini is one of the most historically significant monuments in Buddhism. Erected in 249 BCE by Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya dynasty during his pilgrimage to the sacred sites of the Buddha's life, the polished sandstone pillar stands about 6 metres tall (the original top portion, thought to have carried a horse capital, is missing) and is set on a brick platform directly northwest of the Maya Devi Temple, in the heart of the sacred garden.

The pillar bears a five-line inscription in Brahmi script, in the Pali-influenced Prakrit language, which reads (in translation):

"Twenty years after his coronation, King Piyadasi, Beloved of the Gods, came here and paid reverence, because the Buddha Shakyamuni was born here. He caused a stone wall to be built around the place and erected this stone pillar to commemorate his visit. He made the village of Lumbini free of taxes, and required it to pay only one-eighth of its produce as land revenue."

This is the earliest epigraphic identification of Lumbini as the birthplace of the Buddha and the primary evidence used to confirm the site's authenticity. The pillar was rediscovered in 1896 by the German archaeologist Alois Anton Führer together with Nepali general Khadga Shumsher Rana, ending centuries of speculation about Lumbini's location.

The inscription is still clearly legible; a small pond and the branch-draped Bodhi Tree stand a few metres to the east. Photography is permitted from the path; visitors are expected to maintain silence in the enclosure.