From Indian Side - The Kapilavastu Controversy Part III
After visiting the Piprahwa Stupa, Krishna Mohan Srivastava, who was a
superintending archeologist with the Archeological Survey of India took
a decision. He decided to commence immediately, excavations over a wide
area in Piprahwa to settle, once for all, the controversy about
Kapilavastu. He had the support of a previous report of 1962, written by
his co-archeologist, Mrs. D. Mitra, who after extensive excavations in
the Tiaurkot area, had reported in unequivocal terms that Kapilavastu
ruins can be found only near Piprahwa. Srivastava had a premonition that
the relic caskets discovered by William Peppe in 1897-98, could not be
the original ones received by Sakyas of Kapilvastu as one of the eight
claimants to a portion of relics of the Buddha after he was cremated at
Kushinagar and which were solemnized by them in a Stupa, for one simple
reason. As mentioned earlier, there was an inscription on one of the
smaller urns, which was written in a script, whose style clearly pointed
to third century BCE. This meant that more than two centuries had
passed from the time of Buddha’s cremation in 483 BCE before this urn
was solemnized. A noted orientalist and indologist, Sylvain Lévi had
already expressed his opinion that this inscription was probably
engraved on the occasion of the rebuilding of the ancient Stupa as a
mark of earlier solemn dedication. Srivastava had a feeling that the
earlier and original relics must be still deep down below the relics
found by William Peppe in the Stupa. He started his excavation with a
small trench in the north eastern quadrant.
It should be more interesting to read about Srivastava’s excavation work in his own words. I quote from a report written by him:
“ A small trench was sunk in its north-eastern quadrant, which
revealed interesting features. An outline of the shaft bored by Peppe
could be easily observed. At a depth of six metres from the extant top
of the stupa, two burnt brick chambers came to light. These chambers,
separated from one another by 65 cms. of yellowish compact clay mixed
with kankar, were at a much lower level than the spot where the stone
box containing the inscribed casket had been found by Peppe. There was a
mud deposit, about six centimetres thick, between the last course of
the burnt brick stupa and the chambers. The two chambers were identical
in shape, measuring 82 x 80 x 37 cms. The specific purpose of the brick
chambers, to keep the sacred objects, was apparent enough from the
nature of their construction.
A soapstone casket and a red ware dish placed close to each other
were observed in the northern chamber after the top three courses of
brick had been removed. This dish was covered by another dish of the
same type, which had broken into three pieces. Both the soapstone casket
and the dish were found to be carefully packed with the help of bricks
and brickbats. The casket contained fragments of charred bone. The
contents of the dish could not be distinguished, because it was badly
smashed and filled with earth. That there were no bone fragments in it,
is, however, certain. The positions of the casket and dishes were
different in the southern brick chamber. Two dishes, of the same type
and size as in the northern chamber, were placed side by side just below
the topmost course of the brick. Both dishes were reduced to fragments.
When two further courses of brick were removed, another soapstone
casket, bigger in size, came to light. The lid of the casket was found
broken. On removal of the earth, which had filled up the casket, charred
bones were found inside. Since the relic caskets were found in deposits
contemporaneous with the Northern Black Polished Ware, they could be
dated to the fifth-fourth centuries B.C., and thus earlier than the
inscribed relic casket discovered by Peppe at a higher lever, and also
distinguished stratigraphically. The possibility that the stupa at
Piprahwa could be the same as that constructed by the Sakyas at
Kapilavastu over their share of relics received at Kushinagar
increased.”
one of the soapstone caskets found by Srivastava
Having settled the doubts regarding originality of Piprahwa Stupa and
the original relics of Buddha, Srivastava resumed excavation work on
the ruins of a monastery on the eastern side. During excavation of the
cells and the veranda on the northern side, Srivastava’s team was able
to find about 40 terracotta sealings at various depths and spots. Most
of the sealings were round with few being oval. Each Sealing had one of
the following embossed on a side.
1.”Om Devaputra Vihare Kapilavastu Bhikkhusamghasa.”
(The term Devaputra means Son of Gods, but was a title given to
themselves by Kushan Kings like Kanishka or Huvishka. The legend
therefore can be read as:)
“ Om of the community of monks of Kapilavastu in the monastery of Kanishka or Huvishka”
2.”Maha Kapilavastu Bhikshusamghasa”
Which means
“ Of the community of Buddhist monks of great Kapilavastu”
3.“ Sarandasasa.”
(The third group carry the names of monks. One of them has been read as above)
sealings bearing the legend “Kapilavastu”
After more excavations Srivastava was also able to find two massive
burnt brick structural complexes, with impressive projected entrances to
the east and many other structures. In a nearby site at in Ganwaria,
even more burnt brick structures were found. There was a surprise
silence of about three years, before Archeological survey of India
finally announced, much to the heartburn of their Nepali counterparts,
that the real Kapilavastu has been found. Srivastava says this, in his
report, quite unequivocally and I quote:
“The proximity of these structures to the ancient site of
Piprawha, where the sealings with the name of Kapilavastu were found,
their impressive size and constructional features and the large quantity
of
antiquities found within them, leave little doubt that the
structures formed the residential complex of the chief of the capital
town, Kapilavastu, i.e., the Sakya King Suddhodhana and his
predecessors.”
Piprahwa Ruins
Archeological Survey of India has now put up signs at the sites in
Piprahwa and Ganwaria stating that the sites are, where original
Kapilvastu in which Goutama Buddha grew up, stood once. Uttar Pradesh
state of India has renamed that area as Kapilavastu and tour operates
have started including Piprahwa as Kapilavastu in their tours. New
Delhi’s National Museum proudly displays the urn containing the Buddha
relics.
Piprahwa Stupa and the ruins
Does it mean that the controversy is now over? It does not seem so.
Nepali archeologists and large section of the scholars refuse to accept
India’s claims and many more studies are going on. They also point out
that Indian archeologists have failed to find any ruins of
fortifications and gates around the ancient city at Piprahwa, which
exist in Tiaurkot. The main lacuna in Nepali standpoint however remains
to be absence of a Stupa carrying relics.
Ganwaria ruins
There is one more loose end, which bothers me. William Peppe, in his
detailed description, mentions finding of gold pieces, pearls and all
kinds of precious stones in the Piprahwa Stupa along with the caskets.
He appears to be a man genuinely interested in Archeology and
considering the manner he has chosen to give description of these
treasures, found inside Stupa, it seems highly unlikely that he had just
disposed of these treasures for his gains. The archeological treasures
have to be some where, safely kept by him.
It now appears that this loose end, the other contents found by William Peppe, had surfaced in London in 2004 themselves.
(To be continued)
See also Related Articles
From Indian Side - The Kapilavastu controversy: Part I
From Indian Side - The Kapilavastu controversy: Part II
From Indian Side - The Kapilavastu controversy: Part III
From Indian Side - The Kapilavastu controversy: Part IV
About the writer
I
am a retired Electronics Engineer. I was a businessman involved in
design and manufacture of various types of Electrical and Electronic
equipments including Electronic gauging systems and electro- magnetic
actuators. I started writing as a hobby, after my retirement. I write
regularly in my English and Marathi Blogs. Links to my other blogs
appear on the right side column of this blog. Having worked throughout
my career with my own hands, , I do often get an urge to do something
creative. For this, I have taken up Paper model making and wooden fret
work. I am deeply interested in Astronomy and satisfy my curiosity with
my Meade ETX 90C telescope. However the conditions in the city of
Pune, India, where I normally stay, can not be said to be very
conducive to my hobby. Recently I have taken liking to study
International strategic moves by nations. You can find number of my
blogposts in this area.
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