WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The title buddha was used by a number of religious groups in ancient India and had a range of meanings, but it came to be associated most strongly with the tradition of Buddhism and to mean an enlightened being, one who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and achieved freedom from suffering.

Detailed explanation-2: -The word ‘Buddha’ is a title and not a name in itself. It means ‘one who is awake’ (in the sense of having ‘woken up to reality’). The title was given to Siddhartha Gautama, who was born in Lumbini (Nepal), approximately 2, 500 years ago.

Detailed explanation-3: -Siddhartha Gautama, the Lord Buddha, was born in 623 B.C. in the famous gardens of Lumbini, which soon became a place of pilgrimage.

Detailed explanation-4: -According to the Tripitaka, which is recognized by scholars as the earliest existing record of the Buddha’s life and discourses, Gautama Buddha was born as Prince Siddhartha, the son of the king of the Sakya people. The kingdom of the Sakyas was situated on the borders of present-day Nepal and India.

Detailed explanation-5: -Following this epiphany, Gautama was known as the Buddha, meaning the “Enlightened One.” The Buddha spent the remainder of his life journeying about India, teaching others what he had come to understand.