Lumbini’s Facts and Figures
1. Lumbini is the birth place of the Buddha and situated in present day Nepal.
2. It is located at 22 km south-west of Siddharthanagar (Bhairawa).
3. Lumbini was visited by the Buddha several times.
4. After the Buddha’s demise Lumbini became a Buddhist holy place.
5. In 249 B.C. Emperor Asoka visited Lumbini and erected an inscribed stone pillar marking the birth place of the Buddha.
6. The account of Shui-Ching-Chu of 4th century A.D. recorded the existence of the Asokan pillar and seven stones marking first seven steps of the Buddha.
7. Fa-Hsian (403 A.D.) and Hiuen Tsiang (636 A.D.) Chinese travel-lars visited Lumbini..
8. 1312 A.D. Ripu Malla from Kathmandu Valley visited Lumbini.
9. 1893 A.D. Major Jaskarna Singh of Nepal rediscovered it.
10. 1896 A.D. Alois A. Fuhrer, German archaeologist excavated the site for the first time.
11. 1899 A.D. P. C. Mukherji, Indian achaeologist surveyed and excavated the site.
12. 1908 A.D. and 1924 A.D. P. Landon, a renowed historian on Nepal visited Lumbini.
13. 1932-1939 A.D. General Keshar Sumsher J.B.R. excavated and restored the site.
14. 1967 U.N. Secretary General U. Thant visited Lumbini and made Lumbini Development Project an international concern. A master plan for the Lumbini development was prepared by Kenzo Tange, Japanese architect.
15. 1970-1971 A.D. B.K. Rijal, a Nepalese archaeologist located and excavated Lumbini village as mentioned in Asokan Pillar.
16. 1992 A.D. an archaeological excavation of the Mayadevi shrine was started with Japanese archaeologists’ assistance.
17. 25 July 1995 a rare terra-cotta panel depicting Prince Siddhartha at royal ease in his bed chamber with Princess Yosodhara was found at the excavation. The image is of Gandhara art and is date could be 4th-6th century A.D. Its size is 68×37 cm.
18. On 4th Feb 1996 Prime Minister of Nepal declared the discovery of the exact location of Buddha’s birth spot.
19. Many construction works according to the master plan have finished e.g. foundation work of the whole project, Lumbini International Research Institute etc.
20. Many Buddhist monasteries representing different countries are either complete or under construction. Monasteries from Myanmar, Thailand, Korea, China, Japan, and Vietnam are mostly or partially finished.
(Article source: http://www.lumbini.org.uk/may_1998_2.html)