Lumbini – The Birthplace of the historical Buddha

"The" birthspot of buddha...

the moiyu wooden instrument played during pujas

about as close as i will get to a tiger...this was at the Vietnamese themepark... I mean monastery

 'Frog in lotus pond'

The bus ride from Pokhara to Lumbini involved narrow windy roads, high temperatures and a strike about 2km from my stop – which meant they weren’t allowing traffic through, so walking was the only option.  Having recently been trekking – you would think I would be keen to do the walk – but now I had all my luggage and it was easily 43 degrees.  So no, not so keen, but if i wanted to get anywhere that was the only way  - well there was also the persistent rikshaw man, but i was not doing that again!

I stayed at the Korean monastery, which cost me all of £2,50 per day including 3 meals.  Okay it was the same dhal bhat 3 times a day but how could i complain.  While i was there the Koreans celebrated the birthday of Buddha by doing a puja (ceremony) at the actual site.  I must admit to not feeling much at this pilgrimage site, except for curiosity, wandering whether this was ‘the spot’ where he was born 2500 years ago... I think I was a bit sceptical and too aware of the tourist potential that was being harnessed.  There are many monasteries from different Buddhist traditions around the world, many trying to outdo the other and some going to extraordinary lengths to give their monastery a theme park feel – in particular the Vietnamese monastery.

I tried to visit all the monasteries in the area to get a sense of the different traditions.  I attended a puja at the Chinese monastery, which was beautiful. There were 2 monks and a nun, and the chanting is very melodious and pleasing to the ear. One of the instruments they used in their puja was called a moiyou, which is a giant wooden... i can’t describe it, but you will see the pic i took of one of them at the Vietnamse monastery.  Other than that, everywhere else was really just for the tourist... so pretty lifeless.

I spent 3 days here before moving on to Kathmandu, where friends from Dharamsala were waiting.