The traditional name of the Buddha’s birth mother was Maya, also called Queen Maya or Mayadevi.
In Buddhist biographies, Maya was the wife of Suddhodana, the ruler associated with the Shakya community, and the mother of Siddhartha Gautama. She is traditionally said to have died soon after his birth. Because of this, Siddhartha was raised by Maya’s sister, Mahapajapati Gotami, who was also Suddhodana’s wife.
Buddhist art and storytelling often portray Maya’s dream of a white elephant before Siddhartha’s birth. The dream is interpreted as a prophetic sign and became one of the best-known episodes in traditional Buddha biographies. Accounts also place the birth at Lumbini, though the historical details of the early biography are preserved through religious tradition.
Maya is sometimes confused with Mahapajapati Gotami because both women helped shape Siddhartha’s early life. They were sisters in traditional accounts, but Maya was his birth mother, while Mahapajapati Gotami was his maternal aunt and foster mother.