Lumbini Province (, ) is a province in western Nepal. The country's third largest province in terms of area as well as population, Lumbini is home to the World Heritage Site of Lumbini, where according to Buddhist tradition Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born.
Lumbini borders Gandaki Province and Karnali Province to the north, Sudurpashchim Province to the west, and Uttar Pradesh and Bihar of India to the south. Lumbini's capital, Deukhuri, is near the geographic center of the province. The major cities in the province are Butwal and Siddharthanagar in Rupandehi district, Nepalgunj in Banke district, Tansen in Palpa district, and Ghorahi and Tulsipur in Dang district.
Capital The Provincial Assembly adopted Lumbini Province as the permanent name by replacing its initial name Province No. 5 on 6 October 2020 and Deukhuri was declared the provincial capital.
History
Pre-history The Churiya range linked with the Dang valley of Lumbini province has been archaeologically considered very ancient with the existence of Sivapithecus, a link between man and ape. The pre-historic studies of the valley have been carried out extensively since the last century; by Tribhuvan University since 1966, American Museum of Natural History and the Department of Mines of then His Majesty's Government of Nepal from 1976, as well as the Paleolithic study of Dang valley by University of Erlangen-Nuremberg of Germany in 1984, among others. These researches have pointed out that Dang valley was a lake approximately 2.5 to 1 million years ago.
Shakya-era As per the Buddhist tradition, Queen Maya Devi of Kapilavastu was traveling to her father's Koliya kingdom in Devdaha to give birth to her child as was the Shakya tradition. However, on the way she stopped near the garden of Lumbini to rest and went into labour thus giving birth to the future Buddha under a sal tree. Gautama Buddha was born in 623 BC in Lumbini, testified by the inscription on the pillar erected by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 249 BC which marks the spot as the birthplace of Buddha Shakyamuni. The inscription mentions, as translated by Paranavitana:
According to the Buddhist texts, Gautama Buddha was born as a prince in a royal Shakya clan reigning over the kingdom of Kapilavastu. This ancient city has been widely identified as Tilaurakot of present Kapilvastu district where ruins of the ancient fortified city have been found. Gautama was a prince of Kapilavastu until the age of 29, after which he left the palace behind and wandered throughout the Ganges plain as an ascetic – learning yoga and related concepts from various teachers.
After the death of Gautama Buddha, eight princes out of sixteen mahājanapadās received Buddha's relics, one of them a Koliyan king of Rāmagrāma (present Parasi district) who built a stupa enshrining the relic. Buddhist texts point out the princes constructed a stupa at or near their capital city and enshrined Buddha's relics. The site has the only undisturbed original stupa containing the relic of Gautama Buddha in the world, and was added to the World Heritage Tentative List by UNESCO on 23 May 1996.
Reign of Ashoka the Great
Emperor Ashoka The Great, having converted to Buddhism after being victorious in brutal wars, devoted himself to the spread of Buddha's teachings and erected monolithic columns known as Pillars of Ashoka at sites associated with the life of Gautama Buddha. One such pillar was erected by Ashoka in Lumbini in 249 BC, commemorating the sacred site of Gautama Buddha's birth and declared the village free of taxation.
In dedication to the two Buddhas of the past, Ashoka also set up a stone pillar and enlarged the stupa marking the birthplace of Buddha Kanakamuni at Nigali Sagar in Kapilvastu District. Another pillar, also in Kapilvastu District, was erected commemorating Kakusandha Buddha.
Medieval Period During the medieval period after the 11th century, Khasa Kingdom dominated much of western Nepal and western Tibet which was initially oriented towards Buddhism and Shamanism, and at their peak encompassed Guge and Purang of Tibet and western Nepal up to Kaskikot. King Ripumalla, one of the initial Khasa rulers, left an inscription on the Ashoka pillar with six-syllable mantra of Buddhism and his wish "Om mani padme hum: May Prince Ripu Malla be long victorious", dated around 1312 CE.
After the late 13th century, Khasa kingdom disintegrated into numerous principalities each with its own ruler. In the 18th century, King Prithvi Narayan Shah, born from the marriage of king Nara Bhupal Shah of the Gorkha Kingdom and Queen Kaushalyavati Devi, the princess of the Palpa kingdom; set out on a conquest to unify the region into modern Nepal.
Modern history Anglo-Nepalese War
The Anglo-Nepalese War (1814–1816) took place between the Gorkhali army of the Kingdom of Nepal and the British forces of the East India Company for two years leading to the Sugauli Treaty in 1816 which demarcated the boundary of the Kingdom of Nepal. Among the prominent battles during the Anglo-Nepalese War, the Battle of Jitgadhi - fought in January 1815 and again in April 1815 - was marked by the victory of the Gorkhali army. The Nepalese Colonel Ujir Singh Thapa, who led the kingdom of Nepal to victory in this battle, is revered as one of the national heroes in the military history of Nepal.
Battle of Jit Gadhi
After the Kingdom of Nepal outright refused the proposal of British East India Company which wanted to claim its sovereignty in the territories of Butwal and Sheoraj, General John Sullivan Wood of the East India Company led an offensive column to the fort of Jit Gadhi in January 1815 AD. The frontier fort, which was surrounded by dense forest and situated on the west bank of the river Tinau on a primary route to Tansen, was being held by Nepalese Colonel Ujir Singh Thapa - the nephew of Nepalese Prime Minister Mukhtiyar Bhimsen Thapa.
Although low in number and acutely inferior in firepower, the strong resistance put forward by Colonel Ujir Singh Thapa thwarted the incursion of the British forces into Nepal twice in January 1815 and April 1815. The battle established Colonel Thapa as a national military hero and forced the English troops to withdraw.
Historical Districts
During the Rana regime, the region was politically divided into administrative districts Butwal, Palpa, Deukhuri, Sallyana, Banke, Bardiya and Pyuthan.
Geography Lumbini, with an area of 22,288 square kilometers (8,605.44 sq. mi) covers about 15.1% of the country's total area. Lumbini Province is almost the size of US state of New Jersey. The province extends 150 km (93 mi) north to south and about 300 km (186 mi) east to west at its maximum width. It shares 413.14 km (256 mi) of border with India (states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh).
The Province is geographically bordered with Gandaki Province to the east and north, by Karnali province to the north and west, by Sudurpaschim Province to the west and by India to the south. There are three ecological regions of Mountains, Hills and Terai; each occupying 3.1%, 69.3% and 27.6% of the province respectively.
+Ecological regions of Lumbini ProvinceEcological regionsPercentage of territoryMountains3.1%Hills69.3%Terai (plain)27.6%
Climate Lumbini has a humid subtropical climate and experiences four seasons. The winter in January and February is followed by summer between March and May and the monsoon season between June and September. In winter, it's sunny and mild, pleasantly warm during the day but cool at night, sometimes even cold. The average temperature in January is around 15 °C (59 °F). But the northern parts of the province get colder and can experience snowfall. By March, the temperature rises considerably and it begins to be hot, while from April to June it's scorching hot, and highs can reach or exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in southern plains.
In June, the summer monsoon arrives, characterized by heavy rains, in the form of downpours and thunderstorms. The monsoon arrives first in the east, in early June, while in the west it comes in the middle of the month or so. The temperature decreases, with the maximum dropping to around 32 °C (90 °F) in July and August, but the humidity increases, making the heat muggy. The rains are heavy, especially in July and August, when they exceed 300 millimeters (12 inches) per month, but in certain areas at the foot of the mountains, they can exceed 600 mm (23.5 in) per month. The monsoon starts to withdraw by early October in the west, and about a week later in the east. The weather returns to be sunny, and even though October is still a hot month, the humidity decreases, and the night temperature becomes a bit cooler. +Average temperatures and precipitation for selected communities in LumbiniLocationAugust (°F)August (°C)January (°F)January (°C)Annual Precipitation
(mm/in)Butwal7926.155.613.11827.2/71.9Gulariya84.429.159.415.21503.7/59.2Nepalgunj84.429.159.515.31302.1/51.3Siddharthanagar79.72955.415.91762.7/69.4Sitganga75.624.251.8111633.2/64.3Tansen76.824.953.411.91949.3/76.7Tulsipur79.726.555.4131495.4/58.9
Valleys
Dang-Deukhuri Dang and Deukhuri valleys, 10 km apart, are located in the Dang Deukhuri District. The Dang Valley lies between the Mahabharat Range in the north and the Churia Range in the south. It forms a nearly 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi) plain within a local drainage basin of less than 3,000 km2 (1,200 sq mi). It is drained by the Babai River, and is one of the largest Inner Terai valleys. Deukhuri Valley is southeast of the Dang Valley and extends about 60 km (37 mi) in WNW-ESE direction with a maximum width of 20 km (12 mi), and is surrounded by Sivalik Hills on all sides. It forms a nearly 600 km2 (230 sq mi) plain within a drainage basin of 6,100 km2 (2,400 sq mi). The valley is drained by the West Rapti River.
The elevations of Dang and Deukhuri valleys are 700 meters and 300 meters from sea level respectively. Late Cenozoic sedimentary sequences are well exposed along the southern part of Dang and all sides of Deukhuri valley, and mostly consist of deformed rocks resulting from the persistence of shortening between Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate. The two valleys have been considered a vital location of Paleolithic archeology in South Asia due to the abundant presence of ancient Paleolithic tool sites.
Other small valleys of the province are located in districts like Arghakhanchi (Rapti), Palpa (Rampur), Gulmi (Simaltari), Pyuthan (Darban and Bajipur).
Forests
About 15% of the total land is covered in protected forest in the province.
+Forest area by districts in the province.DistrictsForest (%)Area (ha.th.)Arghakhanchi59.6973.96Banke62.70117.91Bardiya56.82113.69Dang65.60200.72Gulmi41.8346.34Kapilvastu36.9260.97Parasi81.3022Palpa56.6282.77Pyuthan48.9564.67Rolpa52.8299.60Rukum39.3966.25Rupandehi19.5425.51Total50.43974.38
Mountains
Being the only mountain district of Lumbini province, most of the prominent peaks of the province lie in Eastern Rukum District along the Dhaulagiri range. The tallest mountain of Lumbini Province in Eastern Rukum, Putha Himchuli also known as Mount Dhaulagiri VII, has an altitude of 7,246 meters and is one of the popular trekking peak of the Dhaulagiri region. The mountain was first ascended jointly by British explorer J.O.M Roberts and Nepalese climber Ang Nyima Sherpa in 1954. Mount Sisne I remained an unclimbed summit until 2013, and the first successful ascent was made by a mountaineering team led by Man Bahadur Khatri. + List of highest peaks of LumbiniS/NMountainsElevation (meters)DistrictRangeAdditional Information1Mount Putha I 7,246Eastern Rukum DistrictDhaulagiri Range95th highest in the world.