The royal seat of the Shakyas. The world Siddhartha renounced.
The Shakya prince of Kapilavastu who left his palace, sat beneath the Bodhi tree, and set in motion the wheel of the dharma. The historical Buddha whose words seeded a tradition that now belongs to a fifth of humanity.
Wife of Siddhartha, mother of Rahula, princess of the Koliyas. Awoke one morning to find her husband gone in the night. Refused to remarry. Followed him into the order seven years after their son did, attained arahantship, and is recorded in the Therigatha as foremost in great supernormal powers.
The Buddha's aunt and stepmother who raised him after Mayadevi's death. After her husband Suddhodana's death, she walked from Kapilavastu to Vaishali with five hundred Shakya women, heads shaven, robed in yellow, and stood at the gate of the monastery until the Buddha agreed to ordain women. She was the first bhikkhuni; she opened the door.
Born on the night of the great renunciation, named "fetter" by his departing father. Ordained at seven — the first child novice in the order. Foremost among the Buddha's disciples in the desire for training. Died young; the Buddha did not outlive him.
The Shakya Kingdom.
The Palace.
