Asoj 2083 BSअसोज २०८३· Nepal runs on its own calendar

Plan my trip

Lumbini & the Buddha's Country · archaeological site

Kudan

कुदान Nyagrodharama (Pali tradition, the banyan grove)

Kudan is a small archaeological site of brick stupa mounds and a pond about 4.5 km south of Tilaurakot in Kapilvastu district. Tradition identifies it with Nyagrodharama, the banyan grove where the Buddha met his father, King Suddhodana, on his first return home. It takes 30–45 minutes and fits easily into a Kapilvastu day trip.

  • Stay 0 nights
  • Best Oct – Feb
  • तराईTerai
Plan a trip with KudanRead its story
Kudan
Photo: Rajesh Dhungana · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The air at Kudan

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.

Kudan is a quiet place: a few brick stupa bases on raised ground, a pond, some trees and a modern shrine, set among wheat and rice fields just south of Taulihawa. Most people pass it in 30 minutes. Pilgrims who know the story stay longer.

Buddhist texts say that after his enlightenment the Buddha returned to Kapilavastu and stayed in a banyan grove outside the city, the Nyagrodharama. Here, by tradition, he met his father King Suddhodana for the first time in years, and his son Rahula was ordained as a novice. Many identify Kudan with that grove.

The excavated remains include stupas and the foundations of monastic buildings. Come with Tilaurakot, which is 4–5 km north, and with the Ashokan pillars at Gotihawa and Niglihawa.

Why go

The stupa mounds

Brick stupa bases on raised ground, cleared by the Department of Archaeology, mark the place tradition links with the meeting of the Buddha and King Suddhodana. Walk around them clockwise, as pilgrims do.

The pond

A large pond beside the ruins reflects the stupas in the still winter light. Early morning, with mist on the water and cranes or egrets in the shallows, is the best time to see it.

Pilgrim chanting

Groups from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Myanmar often stop at Kudan on their way between Lumbini and Tilaurakot to chant and offer flowers. Watching them adds a living layer to a quiet ruin.

Village life around the site

Kudan sits in working farmland. Women thresh grain in their yards, children cycle to school, and buffalo graze at the edge of the site, much as they would have in the Shakya country.

Easy pairing with Tilaurakot

Tilaurakot is about 4.5 km north and Gotihawa a short drive west. Kudan takes less than an hour, so it fits between the two without rushing the day.

१The story of Kudan

The banyan grove outside Kapilavastu

In the Buddhist story, Prince Siddhartha left Kapilavastu at 29 and did not come back for years. When news reached King Suddhodana that his son had become the Buddha, he sent messengers inviting him home. The Buddha came with a large company of monks, and because a monk could not stay in a palace, the Shakyas gave him a park of banyan trees outside the city, the Nyagrodharama.

Tradition places several events here: the first meeting of father and son, the ordination of the Buddha's son Rahula as a novice, and Mahaprajapati Gautami, the Buddha's aunt and foster mother, offering him a robe she had made. Chinese pilgrims who came centuries later recorded stupas marking these places south of the city.

Kudan's mounds were excavated in the 20th century by Nepal's Department of Archaeology. They revealed brick stupas and structures that fit a monastic site. As with much of Kapilvastu, certainty is out of reach, but the site has been honoured as Nyagrodharama for generations, and pilgrims from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Myanmar now stop here to chant.

२The legend
As it is told · कुदान

The Buddhist texts tell that when the Buddha first returned, the proud elders of the Shakya clan would not bow to a younger man. To soften their pride he rose into the air and performed a wonder. King Suddhodana bowed to his son, and the Shakyas followed. Later the Buddha's wife Yashodhara sent young Rahula to ask his father for his inheritance, and the Buddha answered by having him ordained.

३The people

Who lives here

Kudan lies in farmland worked by Awadhi-speaking Madhesi families, Tharu households and Muslim neighbours from the villages around Taulihawa. Most grow rice in the monsoon and wheat or lentils in winter, keep a buffalo or two, and sell milk and vegetables in Taulihawa market. The site's caretakers and many of the guides at the Kapilvastu sites come from these villages.

Local name: Nyagrodharama (Pali tradition, the banyan grove)

४Words you will hear
Nepali
बर
bar

Banyan tree; Nyagrodharama means the banyan grove

Nepali
स्तूप
stupa

Dome-shaped Buddhist monument, usually holding relics

Nepali
भिक्षु
bhikshu

Buddhist monk

Every word on this site

५What to eat

Chiura dahi

Beaten rice soaked in thick curd and sweetened with jaggery or sugar: the cool, filling breakfast of the Madhesi plains. In Taulihawa, a few minutes from Kudan, sweet shops sell fresh curd in clay pots each morning.

६Few people know

Things most guides leave out

In Buddhist tradition the Nyagrodharama is where Mahaprajapati Gautami, the Buddha's aunt and foster mother, first asked him to let women be ordained. He refused at first; she was later ordained as the first Buddhist nun.

Wikipedia: Mahapajapati Gotami

The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang described a stupa south of Kapilavastu marking the place where the Buddha met his father after his enlightenment. Kudan's location, south of Tilaurakot, is one reason it is identified with that grove.

Xuanzang, Great Tang Records on the Western Regions; Lumbini Development Trust

The Nyagrodharama was not just a one-time stop: many suttas in the Pali Canon open with the Buddha staying 'among the Sakyans at Kapilavatthu, in the Nigrodha park', where he taught his own clan on later visits.

Pali Canon, e.g. Anguttara Nikaya 8.51; SuttaCentral

Untold Nepal, region by region

Experiences

Four ways to spend a day in Kudan

Spiritual
Kudan45 minutes

The homecoming story at Kudan

A slow walk around Kudan's stupas with a guide who tells the story of the Buddha's return to Kapilavastu: the …
Nature
Kudan1 hour

Dawn mist over the Kudan pond

Arrive at sunrise in winter, when mist sits on the pond beside Kudan's stupas and the fields are white with …
Food
Kudan1–1.5 hours

Morning curd and sweets in Taulihawa bazaar

A short walk through Taulihawa's market, 2 km from Kudan, for clay-pot curd, chiura dahi, fresh jalebi and sweet tea, …
Adventure
Kudan4–5 hours

Cycle the Kapilvastu stupa loop

A flat village-road bicycle loop of about 25 km from Taulihawa linking Kudan, Gotihawa, Niglihawa and Tilaurakot, with stops for …

Getting there

How to reach Kudan

Road

Kudan is about 28 km from Lumbini, 1 hour by private car, and about 2 km south of Taulihawa. From Tilaurakot it is 4–5 km, around 15 minutes. E-rickshaws from Taulihawa bazaar can take you there and wait.

Air

Fly Kathmandu to Bhairahawa in about 35 minutes, then drive about 45 km west to Kudan, roughly 1.5 hours.

Where to stay

There is nowhere to stay at Kudan itself. Most travellers base themselves in Lumbini, about an hour east, at hotels such as Buddha Maya Gardens or the Lumbini Hokke Hotel, and see Kudan on a day trip with Tilaurakot, Gotihawa and Niglihawa. Taulihawa, 2 km away, has a handful of basic local hotels if you want to stay close to the Kapilvastu sites.

Local tips

  • Visit Kudan early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when the light is soft and the pond is still.
  • There are no facilities at the site, so carry water and use the toilets in Taulihawa or Tilaurakot.
  • Walk clockwise around the stupas and do not climb on the brick ruins.
  • Bring flowers or a candle from Lumbini if you would like to make an offering.
  • Plan Kudan between Tilaurakot and Gotihawa so the day's driving runs in a loop.

On the map

Kudan and what is near it

Map of Kudan, Tilaurakot, Gotihawa, Niglihawa, LumbiniIndiaChinaNepalGandakiKudan1KudanTilaurakot2TilaurakotGotihawa3GotihawaNiglihawa4NiglihawaLumbini5Lumbini50 kmN
  1. 1Kudan
  2. 2Tilaurakot
  3. 3Gotihawa
  4. 4Niglihawa
  5. 5Lumbini
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 Kudan with

Tilaurakot Lumbini & the Buddha's Country105 m
archaeological siteTeraiतिलौराकोट

Tilaurakot

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

Oct – Feb
Gotihawa Lumbini & the Buddha's Country100 m
archaeological siteTeraiगोटिहवा

Gotihawa

A broken Ashokan pillar tied to Krakuchchanda, a Buddha of the past

Oct – Feb
Niglihawa Lumbini & the Buddha's Country105 m
archaeological siteTeraiनिग्लिहवा

Niglihawa

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

Oct – Feb
Lumbini Lumbini & the Buddha's Country100 m
pilgrimage siteTeraiलुम्बिनी

Lumbini

The garden where the Buddha was born, marked by Ashoka in 249 BCE

Oct – Feb

Questions

Kudan: what travellers ask

Where is Kudan?

Kudan is in Kapilvastu district, Lumbini Province, about 2 km south of Taulihawa and 4–5 km south of Tilaurakot. It is about 28 km west of Lumbini by road, roughly an hour's drive. Most visitors see it on a day trip covering the main Kapilvastu sites.

Why is Kudan important to Buddhists?

Kudan is identified with the Nyagrodharama, a banyan grove where, by Buddhist tradition, the Buddha stayed on his first visit home after his enlightenment. Here he is said to have met his father King Suddhodana, ordained his son Rahula and received a robe from his foster mother Mahaprajapati Gautami.

What is there to see at Kudan?

Kudan has excavated brick stupa bases and remains of other structures on raised ground, a large pond, old trees and a small modern shrine. It is a simple, quiet site rather than a monument, and most of its meaning comes from the story told there.

Is Kudan worth visiting?

Yes, if you are visiting Tilaurakot or are a pilgrim following the Buddha's life. It completes the story of Kapilavastu with his return home, and it takes under an hour. Travellers mainly interested in architecture may find it modest compared with Lumbini.

Is Kudan the same as Nyagrodharama?

Kudan is widely identified with the Nyagrodharama of Buddhist texts, but as with most sites around Kapilavastu, the identification rests on tradition, location and the accounts of Chinese pilgrims rather than an inscription. Some scholars place the grove elsewhere.

Can I visit Kudan and Tilaurakot on the same day?

Yes. They are only 4–5 km apart. A typical day from Lumbini covers Tilaurakot, the Kapilvastu Museum, Kudan, Gotihawa and Niglihawa, with lunch in Taulihawa. The total driving is about 60–70 km and the day takes 6–7 hours.

What is the best time of day to visit Kudan?

Early morning or late afternoon is best for light, comfort and quiet. From November to February morning mist over the pond is beautiful. Avoid midday from April to June, when there is little shade and temperatures pass 38 °C.

Are there toilets or shops at Kudan?

There are no proper facilities at Kudan beyond perhaps a small tea stall nearby. Use the toilets at your hotel, at Tilaurakot or in Taulihawa, 2 km away, and carry water. Taulihawa has restaurants and shops for supplies.

Should I take a guide to Kudan?

We recommend it. The site has little signage, and its meaning comes almost entirely from the story of the Buddha's return to Kapilavastu. A guide can tell that story at the right places and also help with directions on the village roads between the sites.

Plan with a local planner

Tell us your height, we will find the trail

Easy hills or a 5,000 m pass, a week or a month: three short questions and a planner sends a first plan, with the sleeping height of every night and an itemised price.

Plan my trip
  1. १Tell us where, when and how high you want to go
  2. २Get a first plan and an itemised price within one working day
  3. ३Change anything until it fits. Pay a deposit only when you book
Plan my Nepal trip