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FarCenter

(19,429 posts)
Tue Nov 26, 2013, 12:14 PM Nov 2013

'Earliest shrine' uncovered at Buddha's birthplace

Archaeologists digging at Buddha's birthplace have uncovered remains of the "earliest ever Buddhist shrine".

They unearthed a 6th Century BC timber structure buried within the Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini in Nepal.

The shrine appears to have housed a tree. This links to the Buddha nativity story - his mother gave birth to him while holding on to a tree branch.

Its discovery may settle the dispute over the birth date of the Buddha, the team reports in the journal Antiquity.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25088960
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