The Indian emperor Ashoka visited Lumbini in around 249 BC, leaving behind an inscribed sandstone pillar to commemorate the occasion. After being lost for centuries, Ashoka’s pillar was rediscovered by the governor of Palpa Khadga Shumsher Rana, in 1396. The 6m high pink sandstone pillar has now been returned to its original site in front of the Maya Devi temple the pillar isn’t much to look at, but it is highly revered by Nepali Buddhists. King Mahendra of Nepal tried to match the feat with his own column in the 1930s, but it languishes, largely forgotten, at the south end of the park.