The Discovery Of Kapilavastu Ii

[sabaijai]

The Discovery of Kapilavastu II

by Ven. Dhammananda

Ven. Dhammananda’s presentation will provide a background view on the controversial issue of

the 2 sites of Kapilavastu, one in Napal and one in India. She will provide material to support the

connection between the two sites and the important discovery of the relics at Piprahwa

(Kapilvastu II). The first set of the relics were sent to Thailand during the reign of King Rama V.

There is a question as to where those relics are located today. The talk will focus on the

suspected excavation sites. The speaker will provide more information on the latest findings.

Ven. Dhammananda (Dr. Chatsuamarn Kabilsingh) was born in 1944. Her father, Korkiat

Shatsena, was a member of parliament, and her mother, Voramai, was a school teacher. Before

she decided to take the route of spiritual service in 2001 by being ordained she had a family with

three grown sons.

Ven. Dhammananda spent 27 years as a professor at Thammasat University. She has written and

translated more than 70 books. She has a strong academic background in the history of

Buddhism and has been involved in the bhikkhuni ordination procedure for more than 3 decades.

In 2004 she received the UN Outstanding Buddhist Women award and in 2005 she received the

Prestige Women of the Year award as an educator. In 2005 she was one of the 1000 Peace

women nominated for the Nobel Peace Award.

Her mother, Ven. Bhikkhuni Ta Tao Fa Tzu (Voramai Kabilsingh), founder of the

Songdhammakalyani Monastery, was the first Thai woman to be ordained in the Mahayana

tradition. In 2001 she became the first Thai woman to be fully ordained as a bhikkhuni in

Theravada tradition. Though her ordained status is not recognized by the Thai Government, nor

by the Sangha, she is well supported and runs her own monastery which is also an International

Buddhist Studies Center just outside of Bangkok. Currently she conducts lower ordination for

women at her own monastery.

DATE: 7 November 2009 (Saturday)

TIME: 10:00 a.m.

PLACE: The Siam Society, 131 Asoke Montri Rd, Sukhumvit 21

For more information, please telephone Khun Arunsri at

(02) 661 6470-7, fax (02) 258 3491, or e-mail [email protected]

Office Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 9.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m.

Non-Members

Donation: 200 baht

Siam Society Members, Members’ spouses and children, and all students

showing valid student I.D. cards, are admitted free of charge.

[camerata]

Alternatively, you can read the whole story in The Buddha and Dr Fuhrer: An Archealogical Scandal, by Charles Allen.

This book offers a true account of the scandal that enveloped the discovery in 1898 of an inscribed cascet said to contain the ashes of the Buddha, set against the background of the high noon of the British Raj.In January 1898 a British landowner, William Claxton Peppe, excavated a large Buddhist brick stupa on his estate close to India's border with Nepal. At a depth of 24 feet he uncovered a huge stone coffer, within which were a number of reliquary vases together with a mass of jewels and gold offerings. The opening of the Piprahwa stupa followed on from the discovery nearby of the birthplace of the Buddha (Lumbini) and the legendary city (Kapilavastu) where he had grown into manhood as Prince Sidhartha, but what made this discovery so important was an inscription found on the top of one of the reliquary cascets - declaring it to contain ashes of the Buddha left there by members of his own Sakya clan.This news aroused world-wide interest, not least in the Buddhist world, since no other so well authenticated relics of the Buddha had ever been found. But almost immediately it became known that a German archaeologist, Dr Anton Fuhrer, working nearby at the same time had not only made bogus claims and faked his results but had also been associated with the dig. Fuhrer was quickly unmasked by a British magistrate who himself had a stake in the excavation.Renowned India expert Charles Allen tells the story, weaving in the results of a conference held at Harewood House in June 2006 on the validity of the Piprahwa dig and considering the results of recent carbon dating.

[Xangsamhua]

I think Mrs X and I'll be there.

[camerata]

"There is a question as to where those relics are located today."

I doubt I'll be in town for this talk but I'd certainly like to know about any doubts/theories over the location of the relics. According to both of Allen's books, the Thai portion of the relics were enshrined at Wat Saket, but I've yet to meet a Thai who's aware of this. The rest of the relics were distributed among temples in Sri Lanka and Burma.

[camerata]

Did anyone go to the talk and find out about the relics?

[Sarathi]

I went to her talk on this topic two years ago at Baan Aree and the gist was that instead of the debate as to which of the two Kapilavastuu sites is the real one, she suggested that the one was the original site, and the second Kapilavastu the site of the rebuilt Sakyan Kingdom after it was destroyed by the Kosalans at the end of the Buddha's life. She used a lot of terms and names without expalining them for those without a background in Buddhist History so many were pretty bamboozled. But she has a nice presence and everyone picked up on that.

[Xangsamhua]

Work commitment took priority, so didn't get there as intended.

Will have to read the Allen book, but I still think the putative "Iranian" connection is interesting, though it seems the scholarly community are not taking it up.

http://wisdomquarterly.blogspot.com/2008/1...birthplace.html and http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/print.php?id=

Ranajit Pal, an independent scholar, believes that Kapilavastu was located at Kuh-e- Khwaja in Sistan province (Iran), near the Afghanistan border.

http://www.ranajitpal.com/zoroaster.html

This would not be good news for Indian and Nepalese tourism.

Ranajit Pal has interesting stuff on the skullduggery involved in the archaeological reporting. If you can make your way through the crowded web page and emotive language there's some interesting stuff at http://www.ranajitpal.com/

[camerata]

The second Allen book pretty much wraps up the story on Kapilavastu but what intrigues me is that the relics given to Thailand are officially at Wat Saket, but the press release above says: "The first set of the relics were sent to Thailand during the reign of King Rama V. There is a question as to where those relics are located today."

So they were stolen, secretly moved (by whom?) or what?

[Xangsamhua]

The second Allen book pretty much wraps up the story on Kapilavastu but what intrigues me is that the relics given to Thailand are officially at Wat Saket, but the press release above says: "The first set of the relics were sent to Thailand during the reign of King Rama V. There is a question as to where those relics are located today."

So they were stolen, secretly moved (by whom?) or what?

Two Allen books, Camerata? There's The Buddha and Dr Fuhrer. What's the other one?

[camerata]

The first one was The Search for the Buddha: The Men Who Discovered India's Lost Religion.

[Xangsamhua]

The first one was The Search for the Buddha: The Men Who Discovered India's Lost Religion.

Thank you.

[saakura]

The first one was The Search for the Buddha: The Men Who Discovered India's Lost Religion.

Thank you.

Reviving an old post and a bit off topic, but can any member here give me the thai name in the thai script for Kapilavatsu. Many thanks in advance.

[Xangsamhua]

Reviving an old post and a bit off topic, but can any member here give me the thai name in the thai script for Kapilavatsu. Many thanks in advance.

กะบิละพัด

At least that's what I got from the dictionary (thai-language.com).

[saakura]

Reviving an old post and a bit off topic, but can any member here give me the thai name in the thai script for Kapilavatsu. Many thanks in advance.

กะบิละพัด

At least that's what I got from the dictionary (thai-language.com).

Thanks!