Located just within the southern border of Nepal, not so far from indian border, there are Lumbini and Kapilavastu.
Siddhartha Gautam was born in Lumbini, Nepal in c.556 BC which is a sacred place to the 400 million Buddhists in the world. Maya Devi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautam under the groove of trees when she was on her way to her mother's house in Devadaha.

Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, was located in 1890 after being untraced for 1,500 years.
Lumbini grove, the sacred site of Lord Buddha's birth is today a small village in Nepal, 27 kms from Sonauli on the Indo-Nepal Border.
Three hundred years after the Mahaparinirvana, Emperor Ashoka visited Lumbini and erected a pillar there. This pillar, though broken, still remains at the site. It is known as the Rummendei Pillar after the earlier name of the place (modern name Rupandhei)in Nepal.

Nearby is Kapilvastu now called Tilaurakot where the young prince spent his youth. Dr Fuhrer identified Kapilvastu from the writings of another Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, Fahien
(c 400 AD) who had also visited the area. Archaeologists have discovered 13 successive layers of human habitation dating back to the 8th century BC. The eastern gate of the palace is where Buddha left the palace on his search for enlightenment.
Several other places around Lumbini and Kapilavastu are significant archaeological sites including Niglihawa and Gotihawa and both have pillars erected by the Emperor Ashoka on his pilgrimage to the area.

The Ashokan Pillar, erected in 250 BC by the Indian emperor Ashoka as a testimony to his pilgrimage to Lumbini, has an inscription in Brahmi script. This is believed to be the oldest of its kind, and it declares Lumbini as the birthplace of Lord Buddha.
Believed to be put up by Emperor Ashoka in 250 BC, the pillar is six meters high of which half lies under ground. Ashoka was a great believer of Lord Buddha and exempted the area from all taxes.