Immediately before birth, the Bodhisattva was the Lord of the Tushita (Tusita) divine realm. There, he had resolved to be born for the last time and to have the attainment of enlightment. During the night of his conception, Queen Maha Maya Devi, the wife of King Suddhodana of Kapilavattu (Kapilavastu), dreamt of a great white elephant entering her womb. On the full moon day of Kason (May or Vesakha) in the year 563 BCE, a noble prince, the Bodhisattva, was born in the Lumbini Park (Garden), 16 km from the Sakya city of Kapilavattu. Emerging from the bath in a pond, with her face looking to the east, she leant her right arm on the Shala (In-ginn) tree and gave birth to the future Buddha. The prince was born to from her right side and immediately took seven steps, in each of the four directions, east, south, west and north. In each direction, the newly born Prince Siddhartha proclaimed as, with a lion’s roar, by holding his right hand with pointing index Friday, March 26, 2010
Historical facts
Immediately before birth, the Bodhisattva was the Lord of the Tushita (Tusita) divine realm. There, he had resolved to be born for the last time and to have the attainment of enlightment. During the night of his conception, Queen Maha Maya Devi, the wife of King Suddhodana of Kapilavattu (Kapilavastu), dreamt of a great white elephant entering her womb. On the full moon day of Kason (May or Vesakha) in the year 563 BCE, a noble prince, the Bodhisattva, was born in the Lumbini Park (Garden), 16 km from the Sakya city of Kapilavattu. Emerging from the bath in a pond, with her face looking to the east, she leant her right arm on the Shala (In-ginn) tree and gave birth to the future Buddha. The prince was born to from her right side and immediately took seven steps, in each of the four directions, east, south, west and north. In each direction, the newly born Prince Siddhartha proclaimed as, with a lion’s roar, by holding his right hand with pointing index 
