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Announcement: Annual Lecture 2014

2014 BNAC Annual Lecture will be given by Prof Robin Coningham (Professor & Pro-Vice Chancellor of Durham University) with Kosh Prasad Acharya (Pashupati Area Development Trust). The title, date, time and venue of the lecture is as follows:

Click for BNAC Annual lecture 2014 Poster [PDF]

Title: ‘Tilaurakot-Kapilavastu: New Archaeological Discoveries in the Nepal Terai’. (तिलौराकोट-कपिलवस्तु: नेपालको तराइमा नयाँ पुरातात्विक उपलब्धीहरू)

Date:      19 November 2014

Time:    6 p.m.

Venue:  Djam Lecture Theatre (DLT)

All welcome. Free entry. (सबैलाई स्वागत छ  ।  प्रवेश निशुल्क । )

Abstract: The site of Tilaurakot is located 28 kilometres west of Lumbini and was first formally surveyed and recorded by P.C. Mukherji of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1899.  Identifying the site as the ancient city of Kapilavastu with reference to location and topography, Mukherji reported that he had successfully found the childhood home of the Gautama Buddha.  Generally accepted by his contemporaries, the site was not subject to further excavation until Dr Debala Mitra’s mission in 1962.  Excavating a single trench across the northern fortifications, she concluded that the city was no older than the second century BCE.  Confronted by K.M. Srivastava’s discoveries at Piprahawa across the Indian border, many scholars rejected Tilaurakot’s identification as Kapilavastu on account of its apparent lack of antiquity although this claim was later challenged by the findings of Tarananda Mishra and Babu Krishna Rijal.  Having first focused on research at Lumbini under the auspices of UNESCO, a multi-disciplinary team drawn from the Lumbini Development Trust, the Department of Archaeology and Durham, Sterling and Tribhuvan Universities started a new archaeological campaign to reinvestigate Tilaurakot in 2012.  Having completed three seasons of geophysical survey, mapping, excavation and laboratory analysis, we are now beginning to understand more about the development and morphology of this complex urban city.  This lecture will present our preliminary findings and consider the antiquity of the site.

Contact Information: 

Email: david.gellner@anthro.ox.ac.uk   or   krishna.prasad.adhikari@gmail.com 

Website: www.bnac.ac.uk

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