Gautam Buddha

Gautam Buddha also known as Siddhartha Gautam or simply Buddha, founder of Buddhism, was born in Kapilvastu, Lumbini, Nepal. Buddha was son of king Suddhodhan and queen Mayadevi. At the age of 16 his father arranged his marriage with Yasodhara and gave birth to a son, named Rahul.

He spent 29 years as a Prince in Kapilvastu, Lumbini. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Siddhartha felt that material wealth was not the ultimate goal of life.At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his palace in order to meet his subjects. Despite his father's effort to remove the sick, aged and suffering from the public view, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. Disturbed by this, when told that all people would eventually grow old by his charioteer Channa, the prince went on further trips where he encountered, variously, a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. Deeply depressed by these sights, he sought to overcome old age, illness, and death by living the life of an ascetic. Siddhartha escaped his palace, accompanied by Channa aboard his horse Kanthaka, leaving behind this royal life to become a mendicant.