The
most important place of Buddhist pilgrimage is Lumbini,
located near the Nepal-India border. This is where Gautam
Buddha was born to a royal family in 556 B.C.E. Many auspicious
signs accompanied the Buddha's birth, including the sprouting
of the bodhi tree. The great Buddhist ruler Ashoka visited
the site two centuries later, constructing a stupa and pillar
in recognition.