Lumbini, Nepal: A prehistoric temple and ruins of an ancient settlement dating back to 1300 BC was found during an excavation on the premises of Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini. This is the first time in south Asia that a joint archeological team has dug up a pre-Ashokan temple of brick, which itself was built over a wooden structure.
Prof Robin Coningham of Durham University in UK, who co-directed a team of Nepali and international experts together with Kosh Prasad Acharya, stated a press conference in Kathmandu today. The team worked within the framework of a UNESCO project funded by the Government of Japan. The first phase of the project was completed this month in Lumbini, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997.
According to Coningham, “Until now, the earliest Buddhist temples have been attributed to Emperor Ashoka, who built a pillar and a brick temple in Lumbini in third century BC in his endeavor to spread Buddhism across the region.
Coningham also said that even older remains of a village dating back to as early as 1300 BC were found a few hundred metres south of Lord Buddha’s birthplace, pushing the date of the settlement of the region back by a thousand years.
The project has produced a number of other significant results. It has enhanced the conservation of the three most emblematic monuments of Lord Buddha’s birthplace, namely the Marker Stone, the Nativity Sculpture and the Ashoka Pillar. It has established an operational plan for the implementation of the Kenzo Tange Master Plan for the Sacred Garden and confirmed the continuous relevance of the Plan. It has established a comprehensive management framework for the property. And it has increased the capacity of national experts and institutions to manage the site.
Axel Plathe, Head of the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu and UNESCO Representative to Nepal said, “I am pleased that the project that the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu has implemented in close cooperation with the Lumbini Development Trust and the Department of Archaeology has resulted in such important discoveries.”
Prof Robin Coningham of Durham University in UK, who co-directed a team of Nepali and international experts together with Kosh Prasad Acharya, stated a press conference in Kathmandu today. The team worked within the framework of a UNESCO project funded by the Government of Japan. The first phase of the project was completed this month in Lumbini, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997.
According to Coningham, “Until now, the earliest Buddhist temples have been attributed to Emperor Ashoka, who built a pillar and a brick temple in Lumbini in third century BC in his endeavor to spread Buddhism across the region.
Coningham also said that even older remains of a village dating back to as early as 1300 BC were found a few hundred metres south of Lord Buddha’s birthplace, pushing the date of the settlement of the region back by a thousand years.
The project has produced a number of other significant results. It has enhanced the conservation of the three most emblematic monuments of Lord Buddha’s birthplace, namely the Marker Stone, the Nativity Sculpture and the Ashoka Pillar. It has established an operational plan for the implementation of the Kenzo Tange Master Plan for the Sacred Garden and confirmed the continuous relevance of the Plan. It has established a comprehensive management framework for the property. And it has increased the capacity of national experts and institutions to manage the site.
Axel Plathe, Head of the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu and UNESCO Representative to Nepal said, “I am pleased that the project that the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu has implemented in close cooperation with the Lumbini Development Trust and the Department of Archaeology has resulted in such important discoveries.”
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