Mayadevi Temple

The shrine at the heart of the Sacred Garden, built over the spot where Queen Mayadevi is said to have given birth to Siddhartha Gautama under a sal tree. The current white box-like structure dates from 2003 and protects archaeological remains going back to at least the 3rd century BC.

Inside, a raised walkway leads visitors past the marker stone and the much-worn nativity sculpture showing Maya holding the branch of the sal tree as the infant Buddha emerges. Photography is forbidden inside; cameras and phones must be left at the entrance. Shoes off. The temple is a working pilgrimage site, busy in the early morning with Buddhists of every nationality. Quietest at midday during the heat.

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A story
Excavations beneath the temple in 1996 found a small platform of bricks and a single weather-worn stone, identified by Nepali archaeologists as the **marker stone** placed by Emperor Ashoka in 249 BC to mark the precise spot of the Buddha's birth. It is the only physical evidence of the location and lies inside a glass case in the underground viewing chamber.

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