Gotihawa, Lumbini & the Buddha's Country: story, things to do and when to go

The air at Gotihawa

Altitude100 m1.1% of the way to 8,849 m

BeltTeraiतराई · The plains: sal forest, rice, rhino country

Each breath99%of the oxygen at sea level

Water boils99.7 °Cso dal takes longer here

vs Kathmandu+8.4 °Ctypical difference by height

Oxygen, boiling point and temperature are worked out from the standard atmosphere for 100 m; real days vary with weather.

At Gotihawa a stub of polished sandstone stands in a small fenced enclosure in the middle of the village, with a grassy brick mound behind it. It is the lower part of a pillar raised by Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. The upper part, with any inscription it carried, is lost.

Buddhists know the place through an older story. Tradition says that long before Siddhartha Gautama, earlier Buddhas lived and taught in this same country. One of them, Krakuchchanda (Kakusandha in Pali), is said to have been born at Khemavati, which many identify with Gotihawa.

Most visitors come here as part of the Kapilvastu loop with Tilaurakot, Kudan and Niglihawa. It is a short stop, but standing next to an Ashokan pillar in a working village, with goats and children around you, is not something many places can offer.

Why go

The Ashokan pillar stump

The lower part of a polished sandstone pillar raised by Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, still in place. The upper section and any inscription it carried are lost. The polish on the stone, typical of Mauryan work, is still visible.

The stupa mound

Behind the pillar is a brick stupa, excavated in the 1990s, which tradition links with Krakuchchanda Buddha. It is mostly a grassy mound today, with brickwork visible in places.

A pillar inside a village

Unlike Lumbini, Gotihawa has no garden or ticket office around it. Houses, haystacks and fields come right up to the enclosure, and you see the site as part of village life.

Mustard in bloom

In December and January the fields around Gotihawa turn yellow with mustard. Combined with the low winter sun, it makes this one of the most photogenic stops on the Kapilvastu loop.

The three earlier Buddhas

Gotihawa and Niglihawa are among very few places where Ashoka honoured the Buddhas before Gautama. A guide can explain the idea of past Buddhas and why it mattered to early Buddhists.

१The story of Gotihawa

The emperor who honoured Buddhas before the Buddha

Buddhist texts teach that Siddhartha Gautama was not the first Buddha. The Buddhavamsa in the Pali Canon lists Buddhas of earlier ages, and names three who came before him in this one: Kakusandha, Konagamana and Kassapa. By the 3rd century BCE these earlier Buddhas had shrines in the Shakya country, and the emperor Ashoka honoured them as well as Gautama.

The Chinese pilgrims Faxian and Xuanzang, travelling south of Kapilavastu, described a stupa for Krakuchchanda Buddha with an Ashokan pillar beside it. When archaeologists followed their descriptions in the 19th and 20th centuries, Gotihawa, with its broken pillar and stupa mound, was the natural match.

In 1994–95 an Italian team led by Giovanni Verardi excavated at Gotihawa and studied the stupa and the pillar's setting. Some scholars think the inscribed pillar fragments at Niglihawa, a few kilometres away, may originally have stood on Gotihawa's base. Today the village grows rice, wheat and mustard right up to the fence, and the pillar is part of daily life.

२The legend

As it is told · गोटिहवा

In the Buddhavamsa, Kakusandha Buddha was born to a brahmin family in the town of Khemavati, lived as a householder, left home after seeing the signs of age, sickness and death, and found enlightenment under a sirisa tree. Local tradition and many pilgrims place Khemavati at Gotihawa. The story mirrors Gautama's own life, which is the point the texts make: every Buddha walks the same road.

३The people

Who lives here

Gotihawa is a farming village of Awadhi-speaking Madhesi families, with Tharu and Muslim households in the surrounding settlements. People grow paddy in the monsoon and wheat, lentils and mustard in winter, and many families have members working in India or the Gulf. Children often gather around the pillar enclosure when visitors arrive, curious and happy to practise English.

Local name: Khemavati (Pali tradition)

४Words you will hear

Nepali

खम्बा

khamba

Pillar or post; locals call the Ashokan pillar the Ashok khamba

Nepali

गाउँ

gaun

Village

Nepali

तोरी

tori

Mustard; the yellow winter crop in the fields around the pillar

Every word on this site

५What to eat

Sattu sharbat

Roasted gram flour stirred into cold water with salt, lemon, cumin and sometimes green chilli: the plains drink for hot days. Small stalls in Taulihawa make it fresh from March onward. It is filling and cooling, and a good break between Gotihawa and Niglihawa.

६Few people know

Things most guides leave out

In Theravada tradition Gotihawa was known in ancient times as Khemavati, birthplace of Kakusandha Buddha, whose life is told in chapter 22 of the Buddhavamsa in the Pali Canon.

Wikipedia: Gotihawa

An Italian archaeological mission led by Giovanni Verardi excavated at Gotihawa in the winter of 1994–95 and published its results in the journal Ancient Nepal in 1998.

Wikipedia: Gotihawa; Ancient Nepal (Department of Archaeology), 1998

Scholars have suggested that the inscribed pillar fragments at Nigali Sagar, which were not found in their original place, may belong on the uninscribed pillar base at Gotihawa.

Wikipedia: Nigali Sagar

Untold Nepal, region by region

Experiences

Four ways to spend a day in Gotihawa

Heritage

Gotihawa30–45 minutes

Ashoka's pillar in the middle of a village

A short guided stop at the stump of Gotihawa's Ashokan pillar and the stupa mound behind it, with the story …

Spiritual

GotihawaHalf day

Pilgrimage to the Buddhas of the past

A half-day pilgrimage linking Gotihawa and Niglihawa, the two sites Ashoka marked for the earlier Buddhas Krakuchchanda and Kanakamuni, with …

Nature

Gotihawa1 hour

Walk through the winter mustard fields

A gentle hour on the field bunds around Gotihawa in December and January, when mustard flowers turn the plain yellow, …

Heritage

GotihawaFull day

Ashoka's pillar trail in one day

A full day from Lumbini to see all three Ashokan pillars in Nepal: the inscribed pillar at Lumbini, the inscribed …

Getting there

How to reach Gotihawa

Road

Gotihawa is about 30 km west of Lumbini, roughly 1 hour by private car, and a few kilometres south-west of Taulihawa on village roads. Most visitors combine it with Tilaurakot, Kudan and Niglihawa in one day from Lumbini.

Air

Fly Kathmandu to Bhairahawa, about 35 minutes, then drive about 50 km west to Gotihawa, around 1.5 hours.

Where to stay

There are no hotels in Gotihawa. Stay in Lumbini, about an hour east, where Buddha Maya Gardens and the Lumbini Hokke Hotel are comfortable bases for the Kapilvastu sites. Taulihawa, a few kilometres north-east, has basic local hotels for anyone who wants to stay closer, with simple rooms and Nepali and Indian food.

Local tips

Do not climb on the stupa mound or touch the pillar's polished surface; both are protected monuments.
Ask before photographing villagers, especially women working in the fields.
There are no facilities at the site, so carry water and use toilets in Taulihawa.
Visit Gotihawa and Niglihawa together to compare the two Ashokan pillars for past Buddhas.
Mid-December to mid-January brings mustard in flower and the best winter light, though mornings may be foggy.

On the map

Gotihawa and what is near it

Drawn by Book Nepal Trip from Natural Earth outlines (public domain). International borders as depicted by Nepal. Rivers: Karnali, Gandaki and Koshi systems. Not for navigation.

Nearby

Pair Gotihawa with

Lumbini & the Buddha's Country105 m

archaeological siteTeraiनिग्लिहवा

Niglihawa

Ashoka's inscription for Kanakamuni Buddha, beside a village pond

Oct – Feb

Lumbini & the Buddha's Country100 m

archaeological siteTeraiकुदान

Kudan

Brick stupas where tradition says the Buddha met his father again

Oct – Feb

Lumbini & the Buddha's Country105 m

archaeological siteTeraiतिलौराकोट

Tilaurakot

The walled city most scholars take for Kapilavastu, the Shakya capital

Oct – Feb

Questions

Gotihawa: what travellers ask

Where is Gotihawa?

Gotihawa is a village in Kapilvastu district, Lumbini Province, a few kilometres south-west of Taulihawa and about 30 km west of Lumbini by road. It is roughly an hour's drive from Lumbini and is usually visited with Tilaurakot, Kudan and Niglihawa.

What is Gotihawa famous for?

Gotihawa is known for the broken lower part of an Ashokan pillar from the 3rd century BCE and a brick stupa behind it. Buddhist tradition links the site with Krakuchchanda, a Buddha who lived long before Gautama, said to have been born at Khemavati.

Is the Gotihawa pillar authentic?

Yes. The stump is accepted as part of a genuine Mauryan pillar of Ashoka's time, made of polished sandstone like the Lumbini pillar. What is uncertain is what its lost upper part said, and whether the inscribed fragments at Niglihawa came from it.

Is there an entry fee at Gotihawa?

There has generally been no formal ticket office at Gotihawa; the pillar stands in a small enclosure in the village. Arrangements at the Kapilvastu sites are managed by the Lumbini Development Trust and Department of Archaeology and may change, so check current status before you travel.

How do I get to Gotihawa from Lumbini?

Hire a private car or taxi from Lumbini; the drive is about 30 km and takes about an hour on village roads. Public transport is limited to buses to Taulihawa and e-rickshaws from there, so a car is far easier, especially if you are combining several sites.

When is the best time to visit Gotihawa?

October to March gives comfortable temperatures of 20–28 °C. Late December and January add yellow mustard fields but often morning fog. From April to June the heat passes 38 °C, and July to September brings monsoon rain and muddy village lanes.

Is Gotihawa worth visiting?

For pilgrims and anyone interested in Ashoka or early Buddhism, yes: it is one of only three Ashokan pillar sites in Nepal and a rare link to the idea of past Buddhas. It is a short stop, best combined with Tilaurakot, Kudan and Niglihawa rather than visited alone.

Who excavated Gotihawa?

Gotihawa was excavated in the winter of 1994–95 by an Italian archaeological mission led by Giovanni Verardi, working with Nepal's Department of Archaeology. Their results were published in the journal Ancient Nepal in 1998. Earlier surveys followed the accounts of Faxian and Xuanzang to the site.

Are there facilities at Gotihawa?

No. Gotihawa is a village site without toilets, cafes or shops for visitors beyond small local stores. Carry water, plan toilet stops at Tilaurakot or Taulihawa, and bring sun protection. Your driver will know where to park near the enclosure.

Why go

The Ashokan pillar stump

The stupa mound

A pillar inside a village

Mustard in bloom

The three earlier Buddhas

The emperor who honoured Buddhas before the Buddha

Who lives here

Sattu sharbat

Things most guides leave out

Four ways to spend a day in Gotihawa

Ashoka's pillar in the middle of a village

Pilgrimage to the Buddhas of the past

Walk through the winter mustard fields

Ashoka's pillar trail in one day

How to reach Gotihawa

Where to stay

Local tips

Gotihawa and what is near it

Pair Gotihawa with

Niglihawa

Kudan

Tilaurakot

Gotihawa: what travellers ask

Tell us your height, we will find the trail