Descubren el lugar de culto budista más antiguo en Nepal en el lugar de nacimiento de Siddharta Gaut

The earliest Buddhist shrine: excavating the birthplace of the Buddha, Lumbini (Nepal)

R.A.E. Coningham1, K.P. Acharya2, K.M. Strickland3, C.E. Davis1, M.J. Manuel1, I.A. Simpson4, K. Gilliland4, J. Tremblay1, T.C. Kinnaird5 and D.C.W. Sanderson5

1Department of Archaeology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK, 2Pashupati Area Development Trust, Kathmandu, Nepal, 3Orkney College, University of the Highlands and Islands, East Road, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1LX, UK, 4School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK, and 5Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride G75 OQF, UK

PRESS NOTE: this article is EMBARGOED until 17:00 GMT (12:00 EST) on Monday 25 November 2013. To participate in the National Geographic telephone press briefing at 15:00 GMT (10:00 EST) on 25 November please contact Barbara Moffet at bmoffet@ngs.org

Key locations identified with the lives of important religious founders have often been extensively remodelled in later periods, entraining the destruction of many of the earlier remains. Recent UNESCO-sponsored work at the major Buddhist centre of Lumbini in Nepal has sought to overcome these limitations, providing direct archaeological evidence of the nature of an early Buddhist shrine and a secure chronology. The excavations revealed a sequence of early structures preceding the major rebuilding by Asoka during the third century BC. The sequence of durable brick architecture supplanting non-durable timber was foreseen by British prehistorian Stuart Piggott when he was stationed in India over 70 years ago. Lumbini provides a rare and valuable insight into the structure and character of the earliest Buddhist shrines.

Keywords: Nepal, Lumbini, first millennium BC, Buddha, Asoka, Mauryan Horizon, shrine, temple

©2013 © Antiquity Publications Ltd.

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