Nepal or India: Where was the Buddha Born?

Where was the Buddha born? Nepal or India? Know your audience when you answer. Some Indians will be furious if you say Nepal and the Nepalese will be equally angry if you say India.

Most scholars agree that the Buddha was born around 623 BCE in Lumbini on the plains of southern Nepal. But the misconception persists, according to a story in the Huffington Post. For example, CNN analyst, Fareed Zakaria, sparked a big protest when he wrote in a recent book that the Buddha was born in India. 

To quell the debate and put the record straight, next month the Nepal government will, according to the Post, "circulate a new 100-rupee note with the imprint, “Lumbini: The Birthplace of Lord Buddha."

The Huffington Post story also has good short slide show of Buddhist sacred places.