Oldest Buddhist Shrine Uncovered In
Nepal May Push Back the Buddha's
Birth Date
Excavations uncover a shrine dating to the sixth century B.C.
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 25, 2013
Time to push back the Buddha's birth date a century or so? Archaeologists may have uncovered evidence of the oldest Buddhist shrine yet discovered, dating to around 550 B.C.
Located at Nepal's Lumbini pilgrimage center, the legendary site of the Buddha's birth, the discovery points to the renowned religious figure living more than a century earlier than dates accepted by many scholars. (See also: "Buddha Rising.")
"What we have got is the earliest Buddhist shrine in the world," says archaeologist Robin Coningham of the United Kingdom's Durham University, lead author of the discovery study, released on Monday by the journal Antiquity.
In the study, the international archaeology team reports digging beneath existing brick structures at the shrine, which is visited yearly by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.
PHOTOGRAPH BY IRA BLOCK, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Archaeologists Robin Coningham (at left) and Kosh Prasad Acharya direct excavations within the Maya Devi Temple.
The excavations showed that older wooden structures lay beneath the walls of the later brick Buddhist shrine. The layout of that more recent shrine duplicates the layout of the earlier wooden structures, pointing to a continuity of Buddhist worship at the site, Coningham says.
"The big debate has been about when the Buddha lived and now we have a shrine structure pointing to the sixth century B.C.," Coningham says. The team used two kinds of scientific dating to find the age of the early shrine.
Outside scholars applauded the discovery but cautioned against too hastily accepting the site as the oldest discovered Buddhist shrine without more analysis.
"Archaeologists love claiming that they have found the earliest or the oldest of something," says archaeologist Ruth Young of the United Kingdom's University of Leicester in an email message.
The Buddha's Birthplace
Buddhism is one of the world's great religions, with more than 350 million followers, most living in East Asia.
By tradition, Lumbini is the garden site where the Buddha's mother, Maya Devi, grasped a tree and gave birth to the historical figureSiddhartha Gautama, who later became the Buddha.
The exact date of the Buddha's birth is disputed, with Nepalese authorities favoring 623 B.C., and other traditions favoring more recent dates, around 400 B.C.
Regardless, by 249 B.C. Lumbini had became one of the four sacred centers of Buddhism, marked by sanctifying inscriptions and a pillar left there in 249 B.C. by the Indian emperor Ashoka, who helped spread Buddhism across Asia.
Later abandoned, the site was rediscovered in 1896 and re-established as a worship center, the Maya Devi temple, which is now a World Heritage site.
Concerned about wear from visitors, UNESCO, along with Japanese and Nepalese officials, supported Coningham and colleagues as they documented conditions at Lumbini and investigated the history underneath the layers of brick structures left from Ashoka's era.
The research was also supported by the National Geographic Society.
"We had almost unique access to the site that probably won't come again for another generation," Coningham says. "For that reason, we made our work completely open and transparent to pilgrims. Their experiences were quite moving to see as we did our work."
Ancient Tree Shrine
Digging beneath a central shrine, the researchers uncovered postholes pointing to a wooden railing surrounding a tree shrine and dating to around 550 B.C., says Coningham. They also found an older brick structure.
The center of the shrine was unroofed, the team found, and contained mineralized tree roots, surrounded by clay floors worn smooth by visitors. It was likely an ancient bodhigara, or tree shrine.
The tree roots appear to have been fertilized, and although bodhigara are found in older Indian traditions, the shrine lacked the signs of sacrifices or offerings found at such sites.
"It was very clean, in fact, which points to the Buddhist tradition of nonviolence and nonofferings," says Coningham.
The team zeroed in on the shrine's age with radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the wooden postholes and optically stimulated luminescence dating, a method that reveals radioactive decay times of elements in the soil to reveal when it was last on the surface.
Overall, Coningham argues, excavations at the site point to its cultivation starting around 1,000 B.C., followed by the development of a Buddhist monastery-like community by the the sixth century B.C.
Scholarly Caution
"The new evidence from this project shows that this ritual activity was taking place centuries prior to the Asokan levels and this is really significant and interesting," Young says.
Julia Shaw, a lecturer in South Asian archaeology at University College London, called the claims for a wooden railing surrounding a possible tree shrine convincing but speculative.
PHOTOGRAPH BY IRA BLOCK, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Pilgrims meditate in the Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini, Nepal. The remains of the earliest temples at the site are in the background.
She was cautious about the oldest Buddhist shrine claim.
"The worship of trees, often at simple altars, was a ubiquitous feature of ancient Indian religions, and given the degree of overlap between Buddhist ritual and pre-existing traditions, it is also possible that what is being described represents an older tree shrine quite disconnected from the worship of the historical Buddha," Shaw says.
"Still, it does indeed present some new insights into the archaeology of Indian ritual in general," she adds.
Coningham called the chance to study the site and contribute toward Lumbini's conservation important, particularly due to its growing popularity as a pilgrimage site. By 2020, more than four million pilgrims are expected to visit.
"It was amazingly busy at times, people praying and meditating," Coningham says. "It was challenging and exciting, working on a living religious site."
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131125-buddha-birth-nepal-archaeology-science-lumbini-religion-history/26 November 2013 Last updated at 00:58 GMT
'Earliest shrine' uncovered at Buddha's birthplace
The remains lay buried beneath the present day Maya Devi TempleArchaeologists digging at Buddha's birthplace have uncovered remains of the "earliest ever Buddhist shrine".
They unearthed a 6th Century BC timber structure buried within the Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini in Nepal.
The shrine appears to have housed a tree. This links to the Buddha nativity story - his mother gave birth to him while holding on to a tree branch.
Its discovery may settle the dispute over the birth date of the Buddha, the team reports in the journal Antiquity.
RadiocarbonEvery year thousands of Buddhists make a holy pilgrimage to Lumbini - long identified as the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha.
Yet despite the many texts chronicling his life and teachings, it is still uncertain when he lived.
Estimates for his birth stretch as far back as 623 BC, but many scholars believed 390-340 BC a more realistic timeframe.
Until now, the earliest evidence of Buddhist structures at Lumbini dated no earlier than the 3rd Century BC, in the era of the emperor Ashoka.
To investigate, archaeologists began excavating at the heart of the temple - alongside meditating monks, nuns and pilgrims.
They unearthed a wooden structure with a central void which had no roof. Brick temples built later above the timber were also arranged around this central space.
To date the buildings, fragments of charcoal and grains of sand were tested using a combination of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence techniques.
"Now, for the first time, we have an archaeological sequence at Lumbini that shows a building there as early as the 6th century BC," said archaeologist Prof Robin Coningham of Durham University, who co-led the international team, supported by the National Geographic Society.
The holy site remained open for meditation while archaeologists excavated"This is the earliest evidence of a Buddhist shrine anywhere in the world.
"It sheds light on a very long debate, which has led to differences in teachings and traditions of Buddhism.
"The narrative of Lumbini's establishment as a pilgrimage site under Ashokan patronage must be modified since it is clear that the site had already undergone embellishment for centuries."
The dig also detected signs of ancient tree roots in the wooden building's central void - suggesting it was a tree shrine.
Tradition records that Queen Maya Devi gave birth to the Buddha while grasping the branch of a tree within the Lumbini Garden.
The discovery could aid conservation efforts at the holy site - which has been neglected despite its Unesco World Heritage status.
"These discoveries are very important to better understand the birthplace of the Buddha," said Ram Kumar Shrestha, Nepal's minister of culture, tourism and civil aviation.
"The government of Nepal will spare no effort to preserve this significant site."
Archaeologists hope their discovery will aid conservation efforts at the sitehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25088960
New finds at Lumbini may push Buddha's birth to 6th century BC
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/New-finds-at-Lumbini-may-push-Buddhas-birth-to-6th-century-BC/articleshow/26406078.cms?
A shrine within a shrine reveals evidence of Buddha's birth
Thai Monks on the walkways around the Maya Devi temple at Lumbini in Nepal. Archaeologists work at the tree shrine trench in the foreground. (Ira Block / November 25, 2013) |
Ancient bricks, tile roofing and wood charcoal discovered beneath a Nepalese pilgrimage site are providing new evidence for the time of Buddha's birth, according to archaeologists.
In research published Monday in the journal Antiquity, scholars wrote that the evidence supports a 6th century BC nativity for the Buddha.
A precise date of birth remains unknown. Historians have wavered over dates ranging between 623 BC and 340 BC.
Much of the confusion has to do with the lack of a written record. While inscriptions on monuments that were paid for and erected by the Indian emperor Asoka, or Ashoka, in the 3rd century BC provide some clues, earlier evidence is harder to come by, researchers say.
The Antiquity paper focused on recent archaeological work at the Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini, said to be the site of Buddha's birth. The dig, which was financed by the Japanese and Nepalese governments and the National Geographic Society, was done within the shrine, a UNESCO world heritage site.
Robin Coningham, the paper's lead author and professor of archeology at Durham University in Britain, said the dig revealed a previously undiscovered temple build of wood beneath a succession of later brick temples.
The original timber structure appears to have been built around an open space that likely held a tree, the authors wrote.
"This central portion of the temple had always been open to the elements. It had never been covered by a roof," Coningham said. "Also, the team found fragments of mineralized tree roots."
According to Buddhist tradition, Siddhartha Gautama, as he was known before enlightenment, was born in a garden, beneath a tree. Immediately after his delivery, Buddha stood and walked as his mother, Queen Maya Devi, held a tree branch for support.
Coningham said that because of this tradition, it was not surprising that a tree would feature prominently in the shrine.
"This is one of those rare occasions when belief, tradition, archeology and science actually come together, because here we have a very early shrine built around a tree," Coningham said.
The Lumbini temple is one of four key temples associated with the life of Buddha, or "enlightened one." The others are Bodh Gaya, where he attained enlightenment; Sarnath, where he first preached; and Kusingara, where he died at age 80.
The first Lumbini shrine was likely built by wealthy adherents of Buddhism at a time when the religion was considered a cult. At the time of his death, Buddha is said to have recommended that all Buddhists visit "Lumbini."
Subsequent shrines were constructed with large open areas as well, researchers said.
At some point the temple was forgotten and overgrown by jungle. It was rediscovered in 1869 and found to have a large sandstone column with an inscription that called the site Lumbini and said that Ashoka had visited there.
Researchers said most of those earlier shrines at the site were covered by more recent construction, and an examination of the buried materials was not possible until now.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims visit Lumbini each year, and the temple remained open to archaeologists as they conducted their work.
"All of this work occurred within a living temple," Coningham said.
Researchers used fragements of charcoal from the early wooden temple and grains of sand to date the structure. The tests involved "a combination of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence techniques," the authors said.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-buddha-birth-site-20131125,0,6638758.story#ixzz2llcupr3U
Full text pdf file: http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/subscriptions/howtoaccess.htm?PageWanted=http://antiquity.ac.uk/Ant/087/1104/ant0871104.pdf (NEEDS SUBSCRIPTION)
Mirror: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4BAzCi4O_l4cF9lZVBabHRQamM/edit?usp=sharing
Volume: 87 Number: 338 Page: 1104–1123  |
 |
| 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, and5Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride G75 OQF, UK |
http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/087/ant0871104.htm