Lumbini: The birth palace of Buddha

Today visitors from all over the world come to Lumbini, the timeless palace where ancient monuments glorify the birthpalace of the Sakyamuni and bear witness to the record of the noteworthy visits by famous dignitaries.The pilgrims deeply immerse themselves in the serene spiritual atmosphere of Lumbini.
The famous Maurya Emprorer Ashoka guided by his spiritual teacher Upagupta made a pilgrimage to this holy site in 249 B.C.HE erected a stone pillar bearing an inscription stating that the Buddha, the sage of the Sakyas was born there. Famous chinese pilgrim Fa-hsien(5th century AD) visited Lumbini.He saw the nativity tree, the bathing tank and the well among other monuments.HE also visited other surrounding historic sites such as Kapilavastu and Devadaha.
Hiuen-Tsag, another reputed traveller visited Lumbini in 7th century AD. His travel account gives exact location of this site. he had see the stump of the nativity tree,a chaitya, the Asoka pillar, the bathing tank.the Telar (oily) river the warm and cold water springs. The history of Lumbini after this period is checkered and lacks written records. But continuation of construction and settlement in the holy complex suggest an unbroken tradition of pilgrimage of Lumbini.
King Ripu Malla of west Nepal was the last person whose name has been recorded in the connection with the pilgrimage by famous dignitaries to Lumbini. He left the mark of his visit engraved on the top of the Asoka Pillar.
The association of Lumbini with Buddha went slowly to oblivion and the name Lumbini gradually changed to Rumnindei and then to Rupandhei and the present name of the district.
The Asokan Pillar was discovered by Khadga Shamsher Rana and Dr.Fuhrer in 1896. As the pillar was discovered and the famous inscription deciphered, more and more people were interested in the archaeology and history of the site. P.C. Mukherji conducted a brief excavation in 1899 and successfully identified the nativity sculpture as well as some of the structural remains in and around the birthpalace.
In 1933,Kaiser Shamsher Rana carried out a large-scale but amateur excavation without proper method.He restrengthened the Maya Devi Temple and left many of the ancient remains opened. His operation continued up to 1939.
Indian archaeologist Debala Mitra in 1962 tried to excavate the base of the Asokan pillar.Her work was aborted after she prepared an inventory of exposed artifacts of the site.
The Department of Archaeology, Nepal Government undertook the responsibility of conducting excavation, research and conversation since 1972. After the formation of Lumbini Development trust in 1985, the development activities at Lumbini including excavation and conservation have continued to be carried out in collaboration with the Department of Archaeology .