I couldn’t resist the temptation of visiting the place where Lord Buddha spent the formative years of his youth; where he saw suffering and pain, disease and death. 91 kms from Lumbini, Kapilvastu is this place which holds immense significance for the Buddhists.

I had prior information regarding the excavations conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India between1971and 1977 during which a stupa, referred to as the Eastern Stupa, was excavated. Here an inscription was found which dates back to the Kushan period. Its text read "Om devaputra vihare Kapilavastu bhikku sanghasa" (This is the Devaputra Vihara of the Kapilavastu Bhikshu Sangha). Devaputra refers to King Kanishka, a great patron of Buddhism, who built the largest vihara.

Curiosity drove me to this place and soon I was there. I visited the main stupa complex as well as the ruins of the palace of King Suddodhana, the father of Lord Buddha. I was quite lost in a sea of pilgrims as hundreds of them flocked to have a view of this place where the Lord spent the first 29 years of his life.

I didn’t fail to visit the small, but elegant, Sri Lankan monastery and the temple, Mahinda Mahavihara, in the vicinity of the ruins and I merged with hundreds of devotees offering prayers to the Lord.