Kapilavastu (ancient city) explained

Kapilavastu was an ancient city in the eastern Nepal which was the capital of the clan gaṇasaṅgha or "republic" of the Shakyas in the late Iron Age, around the 6th and 5th centuries BC. King Śuddhodana and Queen Māyā are believed to have lived at Kapilavastu, as did their son Prince Siddartha Gautama (Gautama Buddha) until he left the palace at the age of 29.^[1]

Buddhist texts such as the Pāli Canon say that Kapilavastu was the childhood home of Gautama Buddha, on account of it being the capital of the Shakyas, over whom his father ruled. Kapilavastu is the place where Siddhartha Gautama spent 29 years of his life. According to Buddhist sources the name Kapilvatthu means "tawny area", due to the abundance of reddish sand in the area.^{[2] [3]}

Kapilavastu never became a major pilgrimage site like Buddha's birthplace at Lumbini, Nepal not far away, which would have left unmistakable remains. The settlement was probably never as large as depictions in early Buddhist art suggest, and after the decline of Buddhism in India its location faded into obscurity. There are now two sites near the border between Nepal and India which are claimed as Kapilavastu — Piprahwa in Uttar Pradesh, India and Tilaurakot in Nepal. Finds at the Piprahwa (including a reliquary found inside a mud stupa) indicate Buddhist activity dating to the 5th-4th century BCE, around the time of the death of the Buddha.^[4]

Search for Kapilavastu

The 19th-century search for the historical site of Kapilavastu followed the accounts left by Faxian and later by Xuanzang, who were Chinese Buddhist monks who made early pilgrimages to the site.^{[5] [6] [7] [8]} Some archaeologists have identified present-day Tilaurakot, Nepal, while others have identified present-day Piprahwa, India as the location for the historical site of Kapilavastu, the seat of governance of the Shakya state that would have covered the region.^[9] Both sites contain archaeological ruins. Those at Piprahwa show it was a significant early Buddhist site with a stupa and monasteries, and probably relics of the Buddha.^{[4] [10]}

See also

• Banganga River - river passing through Kapilavastu

Bibliography

• Book: Coningham. Robin . Robin Coningham . Young. Ruth . The Archaeology of South Asia: From the Indus to Asoka, c.6500 BCE–200 CE. 2015. Cambridge University Press. 978-1-316-41898-7. 438–440.

Notes and References

1. Book: Trainor, K. Keown. D. Prebish. CS. Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Kapilavastu. 436–7. Routledge. Milton Park, UK. 2010. 978-0-415-55624-8.
2. Kapila, PTS Pali English Dictionary. Link: https://suttacentral.net/define/kapila
3. Suttacentral
4. Srivastava. KM. Archaeological Excavations at Piprāhwā and Ganwaria and the Identification of Kapilavastu. The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. 13. 1. 103–10. 1980.
5. [Beal, Samuel]
6. Beal, Samuel (1911). The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang. Translated from the Chinese of Shaman (monk) Hwui Li by Samuel Beal. London. 1911. Reprint Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi. 1973. Internet Archive
7. Li, Rongxi (translator) (1995). The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. Berkeley, California.
8. Book: Watters, Thomas . Thomas Watters

   . Thomas Watters . On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629-645 A.D. Volume1. 1904. Royal Asiatic Society, London.

9. Web site: Competing Claims on Buddha's Hometown. Archaeology.org. March 2001. 21 March 2011. Chris. Hellier.
10. Web site: Kapilavastu. 1 March 2011.