Was Buddha born in Nepal? Or in India? The controversial fact
Prof. Rajesh Kochhar, an Indologists from India - “Orissa is very poor. It will benefit greatly from tourism if Buddha was born there. Can we not rotate Buddha's birth place like the Olympics?”
The eminent debate, “Where was Gautam Buddha born?” had been a major issue worldwide and is still a controversy today. Many believe that Prince Siddhartha was born in Lumbini of Nepal and became buddha in Bodh Gaya of India. And some claim that he was born in India. So what is the truth?Few controversial claim reports:
- The Hindustan Times in 1970 mentioned that “Buddha’s birthplace was not in the Tarai region of Nepal, but at Kapileswar village near Bhubaneswar.” Bhubaneswar is the capital of the Indian state of Odisha or Orissa.
- In Oct 17, 2004, Ajit Kumar Tripathy published a report named THE REAL BIRTH PLACE OF BUDDHA YESTERDAY’S KAPILAVASTU, TODAY’S KAPILESWAR.
- At a Buddhist function in Delhi, the Indian state’s Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit referred to the Buddha, saying, “India has been fortunate that he was born here.”
- A TV series aired by Zee TV named “Buddhaa - Rajaon Ka Raja (Buddha - The King of Kings)” showed that buddha was born in India.
- During USA tour, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “We are from the country where Buddha and Gandhi were born.”
The Indian empire founded by Sri Gupta called Gupta Dynasty ruled over Kapilvastu and covered much of the Indian subcontinent. Also the exact site of ancient Kapilavastu is unknown. It may have been either Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, present-day India, or Tilaurakot, present-day Nepal. Both places belonged to the Sakya territory, and are located only 15 miles apart. Even though there are lots of reports suggesting that buddha was born in Lumbini but there are also some reports that increases the chance of buddha being born in Bhubaneswar. Or are all those reports fake?
The controversial fact
It can easily be inferred that Prince Siddhartha was born even before territorial existence of Nepal and India. So it's bizarre thing to quote that in which country he was born. He was the prince of Kapilvastu, a shakya kingdom. Nepalese History claims that while Queen Mayadevi was was travelling to her father's place, she had a labour near the garden of Lumbini and Prince Siddhartha was born. At present both Kapilvastu and Lumbini are in Nepal. An inscription on a commemorative pillar erected by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka in 249 B.C. testifies to it. Also UNESCO points the birthplace of Buddha as Lumbini of Nepal.
Mahapari Nirvana Sutra
- Lumbini: Lumbini in southern Nepal is where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Prince Siddhartha.
- Bodh Gaya: In Bodh Gaya of India Prince Siddhartha found Enlightenment (nirvana) under the bodhi tree after meditating for 49 days.
- Sarnath: Buddha gave his first speech at Sarnath after achieving enlightenment, about 10 km from the ancient holy city of Varanasi.
- Kushinagar: At Kushinagar, Lord Buddha fell ill and left this world in 543 BC.
From the Times of India AUGUST 01, 2002 
Superintendent CB Patel of Orissa State Museum, who conducted an excavation in Kapileswar reported that a stone pillar inscription of Indian Emperor Ashoka discovered in Lembei of Kapileswar village points to the buddha’s birthplace being in Orissa.
Superintendent CB Patel of Orissa State Museum, who conducted an excavation in Kapileswar reported that a stone pillar inscription of Indian Emperor Ashoka discovered in Lembei of Kapileswar village points to the buddha’s birthplace being in Orissa.
Patel said "Our scholars who read and deciphered the inscription found that it carries six lines in Prakrit language and Ashokan Brahmi script that says that, in the 20th year of his coronation, Emperor Ashoka had worshipped at Kapileswar as Lord Buddha was born here." and also he added, “There have been no solid archaeological materials like pottery with correct dateline to establish the genuineness of the claim.
If India has such facts then why create a drama of building a place similar to Lumbini of Nepal? To prove that India is Birthplace of Buddha?
There had been many misleading information about birthplace of Siddhartha being India without any concrete evidence. People spreading these rumors to get quick public attention are doing no help. Rather they are only trying to delude the people with very little information they have.
What we think is, birthplace doesn't matters, what matters are the teachings spread by The Lord Gautam Buddha, what do you think?
References:
https://www.quora.com/Why-does-India-falsely-claim-that-Gautam-Buddha-was-born-in-India-while-the-birthplace-is-in-Lumbini-Nepal
https://www.facebook.com/Lord-Buddha-originally-was-born-In-India-Its-the-Reality-517954944949713/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/15/buddha-birthplace-nepal-india_n_3923499.html
https://www.facebook.com/Lord-Buddha-originally-was-born-In-India-Its-the-Reality-517954944949713/
http://www.buddhistcircuits.com/
http://www.island.lk/2004/05/31/news03.html
buddha was born in Lumbini
ReplyDeleteOf course
DeleteIndians are trying to make Nepal as their state like Sikkim. But they were unable to do this because of brave Nepalese soldiers and Gorkhali and people living there. So they are claiming all things of Nepal as their even Gautam Buddha. They have made same place as lumbini (place where Buddha was born) to prove Buddha was born in India and kept the name of place also same that is Kapilbastu. But I want to tell the world that Indians are cheating everything of Nepal and the real birth place of Buddha is Kapilvastu, Nepal. World don't go in wrong way about Buddha's birth place and if you are still not believing me than you can read history books or can come to visit Nepal.
ReplyDeleteBuddha was born in Nepal. And Happy Buddha Jayanti. Yes today is Buddha Jayanti.