(TibetanReview.net, Feb23’26) – While Lumbini in ancient Sakya Kingdom is recognized as the place where the Buddha was born more than 2,500 years ago, a temple built in the palatial remains in Tilaurakot, the Kingdom’s capital located nearby where the Buddha had spent his princely years as Siddhartha Gautam, was, in ancient times. a major pilgrimage site. This was because the newly unearthed temple shows that the Buddha had apparently taught there too after he attained enlightenment, reported the scmp.com Feb 21.
Tilaurakot once held far greater religious significance to Buddhists than its quiet present suggests, the report cited archaeologists as saying, after the temple was newly unearthed there recently.
The apsidal temple – distinguished by its semicircular rear wall – was uncovered within the ancient citadel and is believed to date from between the third and fifth centuries AD. The report cited researchers as saying it is the first structure of its kind identified in Nepal.
The researchers have said the discovery, announced the week before, adds to evidence that Tilaurakot was not only a political centre of the Sakya kingdom but also an active site of Buddhist worship and pilgrimage.
Robin Coningham, a professor at England’s Durham University and co-director of the excavations, has said the temple was discovered inside a monastery courtyard built over the remains of a palatial complex.
The excavation team – including experts from Nepal’s Department of Archaeology and Lumbini Development Trust – were stated to have found evidence of stupas, oil lamps and alms bowls, indicating Tilaurakot’s direct association with Buddhist places of worship.
“People often ask about the evidence of Buddhism in Tilaurakot,” Coningham, who specialises in South Asian archaeology, has said. “Now we have absolute irrefutable evidence that this place was hugely significant for Buddhist pilgrims in the past. This stunning Buddhist monument we have discovered is only found at the most significant places of Buddhism.”
Coningham has said Tilaurakot’s apsidal temple was identical to the one at Sarnath in India, where Buddha preached his first sermon, adding that the two monuments associated with Buddha’s life provided a clear historical link.
The discovery is stated to be further supported by accounts from Chinese pilgrims and monks – including the renowned Faxian and Xuanzang, who visited the region between the fifth and seventh centuries AD – which archaeologists believe describe Tilaurakot.
Tilaurakot’s fortified site, considered one of the best-preserved inner citadels in South Asia, lies in southern Nepal’s Lumbini province, about 27km (17 miles) from the Maya Devi Temple – the Buddha’s birthplace, named after his mother.
The ruins, comprising a citadel measuring 500 metres (1,560 feet) by 400 metres (1,310 feet), were first identified as the likely site of the Sakya capital by Indian archaeologist PC Mukherjee in 1899. Excavations have since revealed ancient roads, shrines, pottery, terracotta figurines, stone objects and silver and copper coins dating back to around the third century BC, the report said.
“Tilaurakot is a special place for Buddhists,” Daya Ram Gautam, a scholar of Buddhist philosophy and campus chief at the Lumbini Buddhist University, has said. “This is where Siddhartha Gautam spent 29 years of his life and returned after becoming Buddha to deliver his sermon about a year after his enlightenment.”
Last year, UNESCO deferred adding Tilaurakot-Kapilvastu to its World Heritage List, requesting that Nepal complete investigation of the apsidal temple, provide more precise dating and history, and conduct further research establishing Tilaurakot as a pilgrimage site, the report said.
Archaeologists are stated to hope the latest discovery could strengthen Tilaurakot’s case with UNESCO next year, noting that many more relics may be waiting to be unearthed.