BHUBANESWAR: History records that Prince Siddhartha, who later became Gautam Buddha, was born at Lumbini village, near Kapilavastu town, in what is now southern Nepal. Yet, several archaeologists and historians in the State have been claiming that the Lumbini of history is not in Nepal, but in present day Orissa. On Wednesday, several experts presented evidence to support their claim that Buddha was born in Orissa at a discussion on ‘A New Way of Research on the Birthplace of Lord Buddha.’ Eminent Buddhist scholar AK Sahu claimed that Buddha had not entered Nepal till 6th or 7th century BC. “At Tarai region there, there is neither any trace of the name of Kapilavastu nor an area known as Lumbini ever existed in Nepal,” he said.
Sahu further said Majhimadesha was the name of the vast stretch of geographical landmass in the time of Buddha where the famous Kapilavastu then existed. “There is ancient literature that has mentioned the name of this area where the Buddha and his disciples were born.” Sahu said the remnants of Mayadevi temple on the premises of Konark temple establish that Konark was a Buddhist shrine. The image of Buddha recovered from this area is today worshipped as Dharmaraja at the Puri temple.
Orissa Museum Superintendent Chandrabhanu Patel claimed that Gautam Buddha was born at Kapileswar village, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. Within Kapileswar there is a small village, almost a part of the larger Kapileswar area now, known as Lumbei, he said. On the occasion, State Election Commissioner Ajit Kumar Tripathy said it was imperative to locate the missing Kapileswar relics which would help historians focus on this issue. “They must be preserved for a thorough decipherment, study and analysis of the epigraphs,” he said.