Under which type of tree was the Buddha born?

According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha was born beneath a sal tree. Queen Maya is said to have given birth to Siddhartha Gautama in the garden at Lumbini while traveling from Kapilavastu toward her family’s home.

The sal, or Shorea robusta, is a large tree native to the Indian subcontinent. In traditional accounts, Maya reached up and held a branch of the tree during the birth. Lumbini, in modern-day Nepal, is recognized as the principal pilgrimage site associated with this event.

The sal tree is distinct from the Bodhi tree. Siddhartha later attained enlightenment beneath a sacred fig, commonly called the Bodhi tree, at Bodh Gaya. That later event is why the Bodhi tree is sometimes mistakenly chosen for the birth story.

Lumbini’s importance is also supported by an inscription on an Ashokan pillar, generally dated to the third century BCE, identifying the place with the Buddha’s birth. The nativity tradition therefore connects a specific tree, garden, and pilgrimage landscape.