BUDDHA: Relics indicate Buddha was born in Nepal

Subject: BUDDHA: Relics indicate Buddha was born in Nepal
Date: Thu, 21 Mar 1996 18:28:24 +1000



http://www2.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/world/020596/world11_10823.html


Relics indicate Buddha was born in Nepal
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Copyright © 1996 Nando.net
Copyright © 1996 Times of London

NEW DELHI (Feb 5, 1996 4:23 p.m. EST) -- India's few remaining Buddhists,
hurt and perplexed by the demise of their faith in the country of its birth,
will be further wounded by news from Nepal that the Buddha was not an
Indian.

An international team of scientists has reported finding relics under the
Mayadevi temple in Lumbini, 200 miles southwest of Kathmandu, proving that
Lord Buddha was born there. Most Indian history books proclaim that Guatam
Siddhar was born in northern India, although British encyclopaedias favour
Nepal.

Archaeologists from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Japan made the
find nine months ago, but the Nepali government delayed an announcement
while it consulted other experts.

"It is a matter of pride for all of us that the sacred birthplace of Lord
Buddha has been discovered," Sher Bahadur Deuba, the Prime Minister, said.

This rewrite of Indian history is embarrassing, given that some books
specifically state that the Buddha was born in Gorakhpur district in
modern-day Uttar Pradesh, the huge state that adjoins Nepal and reaches into
the lower reaches of the Himalayas.

The archaeologists found a commemorative stone on a platform of seven layers
of bricks dating from the era of Emperor Ashoka, a convert to Buddhism who
ruled much of the Indian subcontinent and visited Lumbini in 249 BC. This
tallies with ancient Buddhist literature that says he placed a stone on top
of bricks at the site of Prince Siddhartha's birth, believed to have been in
623 BC.

Ashoka also built a nearby pillar, which still stands. There is now little
doubt that this was meant as a marker for the Buddha's birthplace.

Ashoka has ensured that the poor town will become an international
pilgrimage site more than 2,000 years after his death, bringing much needed
income to a poor region. The site is already being developed for tourism and
pilgrimages with help from the Japan Buddhist Federation and the United
Nations.

Ancient literature says Buddha was born while his mother Mayadevi, queen of
the Kapilvastu kingdom in Nepal, was heading towards her parents" home. She
went into labour while passing through Lumbini, bathed in a sacred pond and
walked 25 paces to deliver the child.

Lok Darshan Sajracharya, former chairman of the Lumbini Development Trust,
which is developing the site, said the commemorative stone was 25 steps from
a pond. "It proves the authenticity of the descriptions given in Buddhist
literature and religious texts about the exact spot where the Lord was
born." The Buddha is said to have been kept inside his palace by his parents
so he would not see four omens a priest had predicted would lead to a "great
renunciation" - an old man, a sick man, a corpse and an ascetic. But he left
the palace one day without permission and saw all four. Soon afterwards he
left his wife and child for good.

At Bodh Gaya, in what is now the Indian state of Bihar, he gained
enlightenment after seven weeks" meditation beneath a peepul tree. The
latest generation of peepul tree still marks the exact spot. It is an
international pilgrimage site, although few people go there because it is so
remote. Much of the funding for maintenance of the site is provided by
Japan.


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