On the full moon day of May, in the year 623 B.C., a noble prince destined to be the greatest religious teacher of the world was born in the Lumbini Park at Kapilavatthu, on the Indian borders of present Nepal, His father was King Suddhodana of the aristocratic Sakya clan and his mother was Queen Maha Maya. The beloved queen died seven days after his birth. Her younger sister, Maha Pajapati Gotami, who was also married to the King, adopted the child while entrusting her own son, Nanda, to the care of the nurses.