Gautama Buddha
c. 5th century BCE · Lumbinī, Bodh Gayā, Sārnāth · Buddhism
Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Śākya clan, was born at Lumbinī (in today’s Nepal). Moved by the sight of old age, sickness and death, he left home in search of freedom from suffering, and attained enlightenment (bodhi) under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gayā.
He gave his first teaching at Sārnāth near Vārāṇasī — the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, a Middle Way between indulgence and harsh austerity — and taught for some forty-five years before his parinirvāṇa at Kuśinagar. Buddha Pūrṇimā marks his birth, enlightenment and passing.
Buddhism · Bodh Gayā · Four Noble Truths · Buddha Pūrṇimā