Crown Prince of an empire, Siddhartha Gautam was a father and a husband. A man so desperate to seek the truth, nothing held him to back to live his life as a beggar. After six years of rigorous wandering in the wild, enlightenment happened. The light that burnt inside was so bright that people started waking up wherever he went. He was now a Buddha, which literally means one who is above the intellect. To people, he was more like a god rather than just a monk. Gautam Buddha’s teachings and fame spread like wildfire. This approach of spirituality was scientific and did not believe or disbelief on any imaginary gods. His way of life was widely accepted around Asia and later on the other parts of the world. It is the second biggest religious practice in the country of its origin: Nepal and fifth in the world. When the idea of religion came with the western culture, the people living the according to Lord Gautam Buddha’s path were called Bouddha. Then the Buddhism was legitimatized as a religion. It has been a widespread phenomenon around the world with different variations. In Nepal three major variations of Buddhism are acknowledged Himalayan/Tibetan, Vajrayana and Theravada.

The people in the mountainous region practice the Himalayan Buddhism, the Newari people of and around Kathmandu valley follow the Vajrayana tradition and the people of and around the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha follow the Theravada tradition. Even though there are variations, the base of all these paths is the teachings of Buddha. Four noble truths: suffering, cause, end and the noble eightfold path to end the suffering Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration are the basic principle behind Buddhism. The attainment of Nirvana is the highest goal of Buddha’s teachings, which is widely known as liberation. This is supposed to be the end of the cycle of birth and death which in end ends the suffering. Nowadays, people of western world who are theist or atheists are being attracted towards the Buddhism as the principle to base their way of life. Even though the majority of people in Nepal are categorized as Hindus, Buddhism is a peaceful way of life coexisting in harmony with other religious and spiritual practices.