Ikshvaku was a famous dynasty in ancient India, Gautam Buddha was born in this dynasty. Like the Royal dynasty of Japan, the Ikshvaku dynasty is also believed to be originated from the Sun.
2. Buddha’s actual name was Siddhartha which means skillful in everything.
3. Buddha’s father Shuddhodana was a king. Buddha’s birth mother was Mahamaya. Lord Buddha’s wife was Yashodhara and his son was Rahul. Lord Buddha lovingly called his wife by the name Gopa.
4. According to Buddhist literature Buddha was born on the full moon day of Vaisakhi, he also attained his enlightenment on this day and finally died also on this same day of the year.
5. Buddha attained enlightenment under a Peepal tree on the banks of the Niranjana River (the old name of Falgu river) in Uruvela village of Gaya. After attaining enlightenment, Prince Siddhartha was called Buddha, and the Peepal tree under which he attained enlightenment came to be known as the Bodhi Tree.
6. Prince Siddhartha was given the title of Buddha after attaining enlightenment by Nalaka, a fourteen-year-old boy from Uruvela village.
7. The Peepal tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment still stands tall in Bodh Gaya. A branch of this tree was replanted by the daughter of Emperor Ashoka ~ Sanghamitra in Anuradhapura(Sri Lanka) and that tree is also still there.
8. Buddha gave his first sermon after attaining enlightenment at Sarnath (place in Varanasi). In those days Sarnath was known as MRIGDAAV( Deer Park).
9. The name of the first sermon which Lord Buddha gave to his first five disciples at Sarnath was DHARMA CHAKRA PRAVARTAN (turning the wheel of moral law) this is sometimes referred to as DHAMMA CHAKKA PAVATTAN in Pali language as the consonant ‘r’ is often omitted in Pali.
10 . Kondanna became the first disciple of the Buddha. The other four disciples of the Buddha were Vappa, Bhadiya, Mahanama, and Assaji. Buddha had given his first sermon to these five disciples. Later on, these five were called Panchvargiya.
11. Buddha was against discrimination of any kind and did not believe in the superiority of caste.
12 . Clement of Alexandria(200 AD ) was the first person in Europe to use the name Buddha.
13. Currently Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world.
14. Buddha died in 544 BC, earlier modern historians did not agree with this date and cited 487 BC but now historians have accepted the date mentioned in ancient literature is correct.
15. Some Buddhist literature predicts the rebirth of the Buddha and it is believed that the Buddha will appear on earth next time with the name of Maitreyi Buddha.
16. In those days, Varanasi (Kashi) was not only a big center of religion but also business, Varanasi had no match in clothes made of muslin, even Lord Buddha used to wear clothes made of silk from Varanasi till the end of his life.
I USED ONLY THE SANDALWOOD, THAT WAS BROUGHT FROM KASHI ONLY AND NO OTHER PLACE. MY DRESS WAS OF KASHI CLOTH, AND MY TUNIC UNDERROLE AND CLOAK WERE ALSO FROM KASHI. (BUDDHA –JATAKA TALE)
The dead body of Buddha was also wrapped with cloth made in Banaras.(MAHAPARINIBBANA SUTTA)
17. After the body of Lord Buddha was cremated, his ashes were placed in eight golden urns and sent to Ajatashatru of Magadha, Lichchavi of Vaishali, Shakya of Kapilavastu, Malla of Kushinagar, Bullij of Allakappa, Malla of Pava, Koliya of Ramgram and a Brahmin of Vethadipa.
This was done with the intention that after the construction of grand stupas at these places, these golden urns would be installed inside those stupas.
18. Some famous disciples of Buddha are:-
Sariputra, Ananda, Maudglyan, Upali, Suniti, Anuruddha, Anathpindak, Bimbasar, Prasenjit, Ajatshatru, Jeevak, Mahakashyap .
19. The Sutta Pitaka is one of the three parts of the Tripitaka. In this, all the major disciples of Lord Buddha have been described in detail.
Anand’s name has been mentioned the most in the Sutta Pitaka and his prodigious talent has also been described. Ananda had spent more time with Buddha than any of his other disciples. He had heard most of Buddha’s teachings and had memorized them, so after Buddha’s Mahanirvana, with the consent of all the monks, the burden of world welfare was put on his(Anand’s) shoulders.
20 . Lord Buddha was born, attained enlightenment, and died all on the day of Vaishakhi Purnima itself so this day is considered very sacred and this day is celebrated with great enthusiasm and in the commemoration of Lord Buddha.
Fascinating facts about the life of the Lord Buddha. Interesting that Clement of Alexandria used the name Buddha. A lot of people don’t know this but Alexandria (which was one of the centers of world scholarship and learning in the ancient world) had a school established by Buddhists from the East among its many academies of learning so it’s no surprise that Clement would have heard of Buddha.
ya sir , you are absolutely right I agree with you