Archaeologists in Nepal say they have discovered traces of a
wooden structure dating from the sixth century BC which they believe is
the world's oldest Buddhist shrine.
Kosh Prasad Acharya, who
worked with archaeologists from Durham University, said on Tuesday that
the structure had been unearthed inside the sacred Mayadevi temple in
Lumbini.
The Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, is
generally thought to have been born in about the sixth century BC at the
temple site.
The findings were published in the December issue of the journal Antiquity.
Acharya
said the traces had been date tested using radiocarbon and luminescence
techniques. The archaeological team dug underneath previously known
brick structures in the temple, and experts from the University of
Stirling examined and collected the samples, he said. The team has been
working at the site for the past three years.
Previously, a pillar
installed by the Indian emperor Ashok with inscriptions dating to the
third century BC was considered to be the oldest Buddhist structure,
Acharya said. "This finding further strengthens the chronology of
Buddha's life and was is major news for the millions of Buddhists around
the world," Acharya said.
"Very little is known about the life of
the Buddha, except through textual sources and oral tradition," a
Durham University archaeologist, Robin Coningham, said. "Now, for the
first time, we have an archaeological sequence at Lumbini that shows a
building there as early as the sixth century BC."
Each year, tens
of thousands of Buddhists visit Lumbini, 175 miles south-west of
Kathmandu. Followers believe Siddhartha, a prince, left his family and
kingdom and meditated in the jungles of Nepal and India before achieving
enlightenment.
