When Prince Siddhartha was born, King Shuddhodhana had celebrated in a very grand way and has invited everyone for the naming ceremony. Five sages attended the ceremony and they also predicted that it was written in Prince Siddhartha’s destiny that he would become a sage after seeing a sick man, an old man, a dead body and a monk. They warned the King that his son would leave all the worldly pleasures to seek salvation.

This warning got the King worried. To add to his worries, Queen Maya Devi expired when Prince Siddhartha was just an infant. The King decided to shield his son and hence built a big palace and ensured that his son would never leave the palace and hence would not see the sick man, the old man, the dead body and the monk. He ensured that the palace had all the worldly pleasures and had many servants who would protect the Prince. Every person that the Prince would interact with was healthy and young. The King did not allow any saints or monks to meet the Prince. To prevent Prince Siddhartha from boredom, he also built three different palaces for him- first one for summer, second one for the rains and third one for winter season. Parks, lakes, forests, hunting ground were all built inside the palace fortress.

When Prince Siddhartha became sixteen years old, he got married to a beautiful princess, Yashodhara. Inside the palace, the prince and his wife led a life of luxury.