World"s oldest Buddhist shrine discovered in Nepal

Buddhist monks at the Mayadevi temple in Lumbini, Nepal, in which archaeologists unearthed the shrine. Photograph: Ira Block/AFP/Getty Photos

Archaeologists in Nepal say they have identified traces of a wooden framework dating from the sixth century BC that they think is the world’s oldest Buddhist shrine.

Kosh Prasad Acharya, who teamed with archaeologists from Durham University, explained on Tuesday that the construction was unearthed inside the sacred Mayadevi temple in Lumbini.

Buddha, also recognized as Siddhartha Gautama, is normally believed to have been born in about the sixth century BC at the temple web site.

The findings were published in the December issue of the journal Antiquity.

Acharya stated the traces had been examined making use of radiocarbon and luminescence techniques, which identified they dated from the sixth century BC.

The archaeological team dug beneath previously identified brick structures within the temple, and authorities from Scotland’s University of Stirling examined and collected the samples, he said.

The staff has been doing work on the internet site for the past 3 years.

Previously, a pillar put in by the Indian emperor Ashok with inscriptions dating to the third century BC was deemed to be the oldest Buddhist structure, Acharya stated.

“This obtaining even more strengthens the chronology of Buddha’s lifestyle and is major information for the hundreds of thousands of Buddhists around the planet,” Acharya mentioned.

“Extremely tiny is acknowledged about the daily life of the Buddha, except by way of textual sources and oral tradition,” a Durham University archaeologist, Robin Coningham, stated. “Now, for the first time, we have an archaeological sequence at Lumbini that shows a constructing there as early as the sixth century BC.”

Every yr, tens of thousands of Buddhists pay a visit to Lumbini, 175 miles (280km) south-west of Kathmandu.

Followers feel Siddhartha, a prince, left his loved ones and kingdom and meditated in the jungles of Nepal and India before obtaining enlightenment.

World"s oldest Buddhist shrine discovered in Nepal