Piprahwa

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Piprahwa
Piprahwa (India)
Red pog.svg
State : IndiaIndia India
State : Uttar Pradesh
District : Siddharthnagar
Location : 27 ° 46 ′  N , 81 ° 40 ′  E Coordinates: 27 ° 46 ′  N , 81 ° 40 ′  E
Height : 90 m
Residents : 2,000
Piprahwa - stupa and monastery ruins
Piprahwa - stupa and monastery ruins

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Piprahwa (also Piprahawa ) is a village with about 2,000 inhabitants in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh . Some archaeologists identify it - albeit controversially - with Kapilavastu , the city in which Prince Siddharta Gautama , who later became Buddha , spent his childhood and adolescence. Here are the ruins of a Buddhist stupa and an adjacent monastery.

location

Piprahwa is located in the Siddharthnagar district about 2 km (as the crow flies) south of the border with Nepal . The birthplace of Buddha, Lumbini , is about 20 km (driving distance) to the northeast; other places in the area possibly associated with early Buddhism are Tilaurakot , Kushinagar, and Kapilavastu . The next larger small town is Birdpur, about 12 km south .

history

In January 1898, the hobby archaeologist William Claxton Peppe, an owner of land in the area, began excavating a 7 m high hill, under which a Buddhist stupa was suspected. The excavation cut was carried down to approx. 5 m below the hilltop, where a stone box was found in which there were 5 vase-shaped containers, around which numerous small jewelry pearls etc. were scattered. Ashes and bone remains were found in the containers; On the edge of one of the urns was a Brahmi inscription, which was translated as follows in a copy forwarded by Alois Anton Führer by the German-Swiss Sanskrit expert Georg Bühler shortly before his death in April 1898:

“ This is the shrine for the relics of the divine Buddha. It is a gift from the brothers of the Sakya-Sukini clan, along with their sisters, children and wives. "(Translation by the author)

A short time later, at the request of a traveling Siamese monk, the relics were given to the King of Siam as a gift, who in turn distributed them to several important monasteries in his country. Parts of it have recently been presented at international exhibitions. The numerous small pieces of jewelry remained in the possession of the Peppe family.

Map of Northern Polished Black Ware Culture

From 1971 to 1973, the Archaeological Survey of India , headed by KM Srivastava, carried out a re-examination of the hill and its surroundings. The foundations of several monasteries, made of burnt brick , were exposed; In addition, the outer walls of the stupa enclosure were reconstructed. In addition, a deeper excavation within the stupa uncovered further vessels made of black polished ceramics ( Northern Black Polished Ware, NBPW ), which date back to the 5th or 4th century BC. Could be dated to the approximate lifetime of the Buddha himself. It is assumed that these containers were discovered by King Ashoka (r. 268–232 BC) or by his messengers; their contents were filled in new containers, which were placed in a stone box about 1.50 m higher and surrounded with glass flowers, gold plates, etc., which are interpreted as sacrifices to Buddha.

In 2013 the inscription was translated again by the indiologist Harry Falk of the University of Freiburg:

“ This vessel (urn) contains the relics of Buddha, the ruler of the Sakya family in the Serai (janapada). "

Janapadas are the tribal centers of the Mahājanapada (great Kshatriya empires of India) in which the remains of the Buddha were distributed and which are almost identical to the northern regions of the NBPW ceramics, the southern expansion arises in the Maurya empire. He dates the inscription to the year 245 BC. When King Ashoka was active in Piprahwa and the surrounding area. Because of his inadequate knowledge of Brahmi, he consistently rules out a forgery by Alois Anton Führer and therefore considers the urn to be genuine.

Ruin site

Piprahwa - central stupa

In Kapil Vastu Park on the northern outskirts are the ruins of a stupa built in three phases and a monastery complex with several inner courtyards and adjoining monk cells. An approx. 3 m high mound of earth was identified as the first phase of the stupa, in the center of which there was a brick chamber. In a second phase, the building was raised by around 1.50 m and its circumference increased. The third phase in which the Stupakomplex received its final, square in the outer, circular shape in the center, the height of the stems Kushan -rich (AD to 100 to 200..); the current height of approx. 6.50 m should have been clearly exceeded at that time.

The east monastery, the largest of the total of 4 monasteries in the vicinity of the stupa, measures approx. 45 × 41 m; it consists of a large inner courtyard with adjoining monk cells. The other monasteries are all smaller, but built according to the same building principles.

museum

On the edge of the complex is the Kapilavastu Museum with numerous exhibits and panels on the history of Buddhism.

literature

Web links

Commons : Kapilavastu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ KM Srivastava: Kapilavastu and Its Precise Location. In: East and West , 1979, pp. 61-74
  2. ↑ SD Tuladhar: The Ancient City of Kapilvastu-Revisited. In: Ancient Nepal. 1951, pp. 1-7
  3. ↑ Arte TV documentary - Buddha's relics - with interview Harry Falk