Buddha was born in Orissa, not Nepal: Chandrabhanu Patel

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Buddha was born in Orissa, says study

 

 

IANS [ THURSDAY, AUGUST 01, 2002 10:30:38 AM ]

 

BHUBANESWAR: Lord Buddha, the founder of Buddhism who attained

enlightenment 2,500 years ago, was born not in Nepal but in Orissa,

researchers here claim.

 

The Buddha, they say, was born at a village that was earlier known as

Lumbini near Kapileswar village on the outskirts of this city and not

at the famous Lumbini in Nepal, noted archaeologist Chandrabhanu

Patel says.

 

Patel, who is also head of the Orissa Museum, bases his claim on the

findings of a research team led by him that examined rocks,

inscriptions and other materials found in excavations.

 

Orissa has a host of ancient Buddhist sites, including Ratnagiri,

Udaygiri, Lalitgiri, Kuruma, Brahmavana, Langudi and Ganiapali.

 

Excavators have found large domes, monasteries, sculptures and other

objects of archaeological importance at these sites. The team's

finding is based on research carried out at these venues.

 

Kalinga, as Orissa was known in that period, formed an important

geographical niche between northern and southern India and maintained

close trade and cultural ties with Myanmar, Sri Lanka and other

Indian Ocean islands.

 

 

The turning point in Buddhist history came with Emperor Asoka's

conquest of Kalinga in 261 B.C. The emperor, who later converted to

Buddhism, is said to have sent his children to propagate Buddhism in

Ceylon, now Sri Lanka.

 

A stone pillar inscription of Asoka discovered at Kapileswar in 1928

and now in Ashutosh Museum at Kolkata points to the Buddha's

birthplace being in Orissa, Patel said.

 

"Our scholars who read and deciphered the inscription found that it

carries six lines in Prakrit language and Asokan Brahami script that

say that in the 20th year of his coronation Asoka worshipped at

Kapileswar as Lord Buddha was born here," Patel said.

 

While historians say that Buddha was born at Lumbini in Nepal, Patel

said, a village near Kapileswar named Lembei could well be his

birthplace. The ancient name of this village was Lumbini, he claimed.

 

The inscription says that Asoka exempted Lumbini village from all

taxes in 240 B.C. because the Buddha was born there, Patel claimed.

 

A broken portion of Ashoka pillar nine feet high and 12 feet in girth

was found in the Bhaskareswar temple located four kilometres from

Kapileswar.

 

Broken bells and replicas of Asoka's famous four-lion emblem

recovered from these areas are also currently at the state museum, he

said.

 

Legend has it that the Buddha entered his mother's womb as a white

elephant. At Dhauli, seven kilometres from Kapileswar, Ashoka carved

out the statue of an elephant along with his edict.

 

Patel said researchers also found four sculptures of Ashoka in

Kapileswar temple premises representing four stages of his

transformation from a king to a sage.

 

Patel discounted the ancient inscriptions in Nepal identifying that

kingdom as the Buddha's birthplace. He said Asoka had not installed

those inscriptions.

 

Patel claimed the Buddha's relics in gilded stone caskets were found

during an excavation at Lalitgiri in Orissa's Jajpur district in 1985.

 

Archaeologists had said the stone casket contains the ashes of the

Buddha, who was cremated when he attained Nirvana at the age of 80.

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