Buddhism · Origins & people
Gautama Buddha teaches a path of liberation
c. 6th–4th centuries BCE
Siddhartha Gautama, remembered as the Buddha, taught a path addressing suffering and liberation and gathered a community of disciples. Accounts connect his life with places across the northern Indian subcontinent. Neither Buddhist traditions nor modern scholarship agree on a single chronology.
Why it matters
The teaching community is the starting point for later Buddhist lineages and collections, while surviving biographies combine historical memory with religious narrative.
About the date
Life dates disputed: traditional 563–483 and scholarly c. 460–380 are among proposals. This is a broad uncertainty window.
Lumbini
Traditional birthplace and pilgrimage site; not a claim to UNESCO’s exact birth date.
site orientation
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