RYI STUDENT BLOG

                                                                In the last winter break I went to Lumbini, the birth place of the Buddha for about ten days of semi retreat. There, I've decided to visit the ancient town of Kapilavastu, where prince Sidhartha grew up and left at the age of 29 in search of enlightenment.      As it was the time of unrest in the Terai and there was no public transportation, I rented a bicycle and paddled though the plains for a whole long and beautiful day. The area of Tilaurakot, which is about 25 km from Lumbini inhabits many ancient ruins of sacred places for Buddhists, including the birth spots of previous Buddhas. In Kapilavastu  itself one can stroll though the ruins, and even the famous “eastern gate” from which prince Sidhartha left through on...

One of the best things of studying in Nepal is definitively the amount of holy sites which can be visited. As I had visitors coming to Nepal this summer, it was a great chance to visit again many of these sites, such as Swayambunath, Namo Buddha or Pharping. We also went to Lumbini, where I had been before, yet this time I also got to visit the ruins of the ancient city of Kapilavastu, where prince Siddhartha lived till, at the age of 29, decided to renounce the kingdom. What the archaeologists have identified as the ruins of Kapilavastu, the capital of the Sakya kingdom, are located around 30 kilometers to the west of Lumbini, near the present town of Tilaurakot. Thought little remains of what was the residence of the prince Siddhartha, today mostly covered by forest, perhaps the most impressive is the wall, very wide and solid, surrounding the whole town, its undulations being witness to the movements of the ground from the time it was built. ...