Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha (The Enlightened One), was a sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. Born into a royal family in Lumbini (modern-day Nepal) around the 5th century BCE, he renounced his privileged life to seek spiritual liberation, achieving enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya. With approximately 535 million followers, Buddhism is the world's fourth-largest religion.