{"id":30300,"date":"2026-02-21T15:16:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T07:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=30300"},"modified":"2026-02-21T15:16:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T07:16:37","slug":"unearthed-temple-in-nepal-sheds-new-light-on-buddhas-early-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=30300","title":{"rendered":"Unearthed temple in Nepal sheds new light on Buddha\u2019s early life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\"><span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Nepal<\/span>\u2019s Lumbini has long anchored the Buddhist pilgrimage map as the Buddha\u2019s birthplace. Nearby, however, stand the fortified ruins of Tilaurakot \u2013 believed to be the ancient capital where Siddhartha Gautam spent his princely years \u2013 a site of profound historical weight that draws only a fraction of the visitors.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">A newly unearthed temple could change that, archaeologists say, offering fresh evidence that Tilaurakot once held far greater religious significance to Buddhists than its quiet present suggests.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The apsidal temple \u2013 distinguished by its semicircular rear wall \u2013 was uncovered within the ancient citadel and is believed to date from between the third and fifth centuries AD. Researchers say it is the first structure of its kind identified in Nepal.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">They argue the discovery, announced last week, adds to evidence that Tilaurakot was not only a political centre of the Sakya kingdom but also an active site of Buddhist worship and pilgrimage.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-1qeofuq e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-0 e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Remains of the rare apsidal temple discovered in Nepal\u2019s Tilaurakot where Siddhartha Gautam spent his princely years before becoming the Buddha. Photo: Department of Archaeology, Nepal\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/02\/20\/9b2cd274-6b75-444e-a119-fe2437c8a46f_88bf30a1.jpg\" title=\"Remains of the rare apsidal temple discovered in Nepal\u2019s Tilaurakot where Siddhartha Gautam spent his princely years before becoming the Buddha. Photo: Department of Archaeology, Nepal\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1ixmelf e1gf69pb1\">Remains of the rare apsidal temple discovered in Nepal\u2019s Tilaurakot where Siddhartha Gautam spent his princely years before becoming the Buddha. Photo: Department of Archaeology, Nepal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Robin Coningham, a professor at England\u2019s Durham University and co-director of the excavations, told This Week in Asia that the temple was discovered inside a monastery courtyard built over the remains of a palatial complex.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/week-asia\/lifestyle-culture\/article\/3344160\/unearthed-temple-nepal-sheds-new-light-buddhas-early-life?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nepal\u2019s Lumbini has long anchored the Buddhist pilgrimage map as the Buddha\u2019s birthplace. Nearby, however, stand the fortified ruins of Tilaurakot \u2013 believed to be&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4840],"tags":[16162,1709,402,536,11272,12193,9027,16161],"class_list":["post-30300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-globetrotting","tag-buddhas","tag-early","tag-life","tag-light","tag-nepal","tag-sheds","tag-temple","tag-unearthed","wpcat-4840-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}