A Pictorial Biography of Sakyamuni Buddha

India before the time of the Buddha, was called jambudvipa. It was divided into many kingdoms, large and small, some of which were ruled by king and some of which were ruled jointly by several royal tribes. One of these many small kingdoms was called kapilavastu, which was located on the north bank of the Rapti River, on the rim of the Himalayas. The rule of this kingdom was king suddhoana of the sakya clan. His family name was Gautama, and his queen was called Maya. After they were married, King Suddhodana and queen Maya live very happily together. After manuy the queen become pregnant. She asked the king to permit her to return to her home city of Devadarsita to give dirtth to their child. King suddhodana readily consented and ordered the troop of royal attendants to prepare for the trip and to clean up and beautify the roads the queen would trevel on. At the junction of Kapilavastu and the city of Devadarsita was a place called Lumbini park. Every summer, people of the two cities flocked to this park to rest or to play under the sala trees. They enjoyed the beautiful flowers blooming all over the tree branchers and the melodious twittering of birds and the humming of the ever-busy honeybees. To be Continue...........