Maya Devi Temple

The Maya Devi Temple is the spiritual centre of Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, and one of the four holiest sites in all of Buddhism (alongside Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar). The temple — a simple whitewashed structure set in the middle of the sacred garden — stands directly over the exact spot where Queen Mayadevi is said to have given birth to Prince Siddhartha Gautama in 623 BCE while resting on her way to her parents' home.

Inside the temple, a raised walkway allows visitors to look down onto three key relics discovered during successive archaeological excavations (Keshar Shumsher in 1933, P. C. Mukherjee in the 1890s, and the landmark 1992–96 campaign led by Nepal's Department of Archaeology and UNESCO):

• The Marker Stone — a polished conglomerate stone laid by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE to mark the precise birthplace.
• The Nativity Sculpture — a worn sandstone bas-relief, likely 4th century CE, showing Queen Mayadevi giving birth while holding onto the branch of a sal tree, with the infant Buddha emerging from her right side.
• Foundations of earlier shrines dating back to Ashoka's time, revealing at least 15 superimposed layers of brick dwellings and monastic structures.

Just outside the temple stand the Sacred Bodhi Tree draped in prayer flags, the Puskarini Pond where Queen Mayadevi is said to have bathed before giving birth, and the Ashoka Pillar. Photography is not permitted inside the temple; silence is enforced by monks on duty. The temple is open daily and is the focal point of Buddha Jayanti (Vesak) celebrations each May.