Today we celebrate Buddha Purnima. On this day, we celebrate the birth anniversary of Buddha which also coincides with the day he attained enlightenment. On this day, let's learn all about the origin of lord buddha.  Prince Siddhartha Gautama - now known as Buddha-  was born around 560 B.C.E. as the heir to the royal Shakya clan that ruled over a small kingdom in the foothills of the Himalayas. As a prince, Siddhartha found himself ensconced in a life of privilege and leisure that was denied to others. At age 16, he married his beautiful, pure royal cousin and soon had a son. 

One day, Siddhartha encountered a frail man bent over, with white hair that left him shocked upon hearing that this was the future of all men. Next, he came upon a sick man, covered in boils and shaking with a fever that left him a bit confused and then Siddhartha saw a corpse being carried by grieving relatives. Then he encountered a wandering mendicant, someone who sought to escape from the pains of this earthly human existence.

These four incidents enabled Siddhartha to free himself from the pleasures of the palace. He was often agonized by the harsh realities of life - sickness, poverty, death -  that lay outside his kingdom. This spurred him to reject his privilege and venture outside his kingdom to live amid the normal folks and experience life and its burdens in its entirety. He left behind his old life of pleasure and joined a band of ascetics.

After six years as the ideal ascetic, Siddhartha rejected the path of learning from trial and error that they did not lead to salvation. Instead, he resumed eating, and as his body strengthened, and he began to meditate. Finally, sheltering under a pipal or sacred fig tree, he achieved enlightenment as the Buddha previously known as the city of Gaya, expanding the north Indian kingdom of Magadha. This is now in the Indian province of Bihar.

After becoming Buddha he decided to spread the wealth of his knowledge and help people grow towards enlightenment through his teachings.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 26, 2021 01:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).