Emperor Asoka (Ashoka) - 270-232 BCE

Asoka was a famous Indian King who inherited an empire in northern India. He became a Buddhist after fighting several wars, because he was so horrified by the suffering caused by the fighting. He encouraged the spread of Buddhism throughout India. He showed by example many of the basic Buddhist teachings. He forbade the taking of human and animal life. He showed concern for the welfare of his people by establishing hospitals, hostels, new wells and many plantations. He had edicts of Buddhist statecraft inscribed on rocks and pillars throughout his country where important things had happened to Buddha. More importantly he made Buddhism much more attractive to ordinary people.

During his reign Asoka gathered together the foremost Buddhist monks and teachers from all around Southern Asia to compile texts of Buddhist thought and teaching. One of these monks was his own son. It was because of Asoka that During his reign Asoka gathered together the foremost Buddhist monks and teachers from all around Southern Asia to compile texts of Buddhist thought and teaching. One of these monks was his own son. It was because of Asoka that Buddhism began to spread very quickly. By the time he died, Buddhism had spread as far as Thailand.

In 249 BC, the great Mauryan emperor Asoka, who ruled nearly the whole of India from 273 to 236 BC, visited Lumbini as part of his pilgrimage to the sacred Buddhist places and worshipped in person the sacred spot where the Buddha was born. To commemorate his visit, he built a stone pillar, which bears an inscription in Brahmi script to record the event for posterity. The inscription engraved on the pillar in five lines reads (translation):
“Twenty years after his coronation, King Piyadassi, Beloved of the Gods, visited this spot in person and worshipped at this place because here Buddha Sakyamuni was born. He caused to make a stone (capital) representing a horse and he caused this stone pillar to be erected. Because the Buddha was born here, he made the village of Lumbini free from taxes and subject to pay only one-eighth of the produce as land revenue instead of the usual rate.”

(Note: The coronation of Asoka took place in 269 BC, four years after his reign.)
After the devastation of Buddhist shrines in India by the Muslims in the 13th century AD, Lumbini was deserted and eventually engulfed by the tarsi forests. In 1896, the German archeologist Dr. Alois A. Fuhrer, while wandering in the Nepalese tarai in search of the legendary site, came across a stone pillar and ascertained beyond doubt it was indeed the birthplace of the Lord Buddha. The Lumbini pillar (also known as the Rummindei pillar) stands today majestically proclaiming that here the Buddha was born.
 

King Asoka was the first to build a temple at this sacred spot. A portrayal of the Asokan temple and other buildings at Bodhgaya has been found in a bas-relief on the Bharhut Stupa in Madhya Pradesh. Beginning with Asoka’s first visit in 259 BC, countless pilgrims have gravitated to this cradle of Buddhism without intermission for more than 1,500 years.

King Asoka visited Sarnath in 249 BC and erected several monuments to mark his pilgrimage, notably; the Dhamek stupa, Dharmarajika stupa and the Asokan pillar surmounted by the famous Lion Capital, which is now the crest of India.

King Asoka visited Kushinagar in 249 BC and raised several stupas and pillars at the site.