Birthplace of lord Buddha and his country: Lord Buddha definitely wasn't born in Lumbini. He was born in UP in a village called Paida which means birth. An English historian named Francois Antoinne Fuhrer was thrown out by the British colonial bosses of the "Archaeological survey of India," in disgrace. He partnered with a Rana from Nepal and claimed Lumbini was the Buddhas birthplace. Fuhrer converted to Buddhism and wanted to become a Sri Lankan monk. But the Sri Lankans asked him to first swear that the allegations of fraudism put against him by the British Government of India were all lies. Fuhrer failed to do that so went back to Christianity and became a Catholic priest. But the huge prank he played on the Buddhist world has its repercussions even today. He chose a village called Rummindei, and changed its name to Lumbini. Buddhas father was the king of a country called "Kote." The king had the title 'Koteshwarnath" which simply means king of Kote. Huen Tsang mispronounced it as "Kie-pi-lo-fa-se-tu," which Samuel Beal translated as "Kapilavastu" thus triggering a verbal war between India and Nepal. On the basis of this Fuhrer renamed Rummindei as Lumbini and created Chaos. Below is the report I submitted to the Archaeological Survey Of India pertaining to the Buddhas kingdom and his birth place. The link to the youtube video showing all the places in this report is given at the end of this report.
(2) Koteshwar Nath/Kie-pi-lo-fa-su-tu: (Si-Yu-Ki, pages 13 to
25) From Maharajgunj near Mahsi which marks the spot where the sangharamma of
Prajapati Gautami, Gautam Buddhas aunt, stood, Huen Tsang travels 500 li’s or
140 km south east as the crow flies to Koteshwar Nath. I will quote the second
last para third line of page thirteen of Si-Yu-Ki. Huen Tsang writes, “From
this point five hundred Li or so, we come to the country of
‘Kie-pi-lo-fa-su-tu’.” The reader and researcher will be amazed at the accuracy
of Huen Tsangs bearings which is already experienced in the above section of
the area where the Buddhas maternal aunts sangharama and Angulimalyas stupa are
located. Now again we see his accuracy by going down south west exactly 140 km
and reaching the next destination which is the Buddhas childhood home. Once
again Samuel Beal has taken the Chinese mistranslation of Kie-pi-lo-fa-su-tu as
Kapilavastu which has created a controversy between India and Nepal onto the
whereabouts of the Buddhas birthplace. The name of the place where Huen Tsangs
140 km south east from Mahsi village falls closely resembles Huen Tsangs
‘Kie-pi-lo-fa-su-tu’ where according to him was the Buddhas childhood home. The
name is ‘Koteshwar Nath’ which is exactly where I have identified the palace
area of king Sudhodhana the Buddhas father. The palace area is ‘Kote Khas’ just
behind Koteshwar Nath temple. The garden where the Buddha was born is called
Rudhauli and is a small town north east of Koteshwar Nath temple. This is exactly
according to what Huen Tsang writes. Huen Tsang once more mispronounced
Rudhauli as ‘La-fa-ni’ which Samuel Beal took at face value once again and
mispronounced as Lumbini. There was no place in India by this name. An
Englishman by the name of Fuhrer found a vague pillar in a place called
Rummindei and guessed that was the birthplace. The British rechristened the
place Lumbini by erasing the name Rummindei thus creating another controversy
between India and Nepal. In fact Alois Anton Fuhrer himself was a controversy
and was thrown out in disgrace from the archaeological survey of India.The
places connected with the Buddha’s childhood mentioned by Huen Tsang are all
here with the names waiting to be deciphered. Huen Tsang said the people here
in sangharamas studied the ‘Little Vehicle’ of the Sammatiya school. Exploring
this area I realized the stupas are low stupas as the area isn’t affected by
floods. They don’t have height like the ones in Bihar.
(a)Kote Khas: In
page 14 last para Huen Tsang writes “There are a couple of Deva temples in
which various sectaries worship. Within the royal precincts are some ruined
foundation walls: these are the remains of the palace of Sudhodhana Raja: above
is built a vihara in which is a statue of the king.” This is the area called
Kote Khas. This is just behind the Koteshwar Nath temple. Ancient bricks can be
found strewn around in the sugar cane fields. Unfortunately for the explorer,
the area is under sugar cane cultivation which reduces visibility of distances.
So unlike paddy fields you can’t see what is in the sugar cane field ground.
The name Kote Khas means this is the main area of Kote. Khas means the main
area. So this is the palace area as the bearings of the rest of the places Huen
Tsang describes fall in place according to Kote Khas.
(b)Ranipur: In
page 14 last para last line Huen Tsang writes, “Not far from this is a ruined
foundation which represents the sleeping place of Mahamaya the queen.” This is
Ranipur which is just a kilometer away from Kote Khas. This village is on a low
stupa and the name suits Huen Tsangs description.
©Katiya
Nawadiha: In page 15 second para first line Huen Tsang writes, “By the side of
this is a vihara; this is where Bodhisattva decended spiritually into the womb
of his mother.” By this statement Huen Tsang means the Buddhas mother became
pregnant. This is the village of ‘Katiya Nawdiha’ which is on a low stupa as
mentioned earlier slightly northwest of Kote Khas which is the palace area.
Katiya sounds like the Hindi word Katna or to cut. Nawdiha can be broken up as
‘Naw’ which means new, and ‘Diha’ which means human body. Together Nawdiha
means new human body which clearly hints at a woman getting pregnant in a
spiritual sense. This stupa in ancient times when most of India was Buddhist
must have been very important.
(d)Turkaulia Urf
Karmahiya: In page 15 third para Huen Tsang writes, “Five and a half kilometers
to the north east of the palace of the spiritual conception or the village of Katiya
Nawdiha is a stupa; this is the place where the Rishi Asita prognosticated the
fortune of the royal prince.” The last three lines of this paragraph are
important. Huen Tsang continues, “If he remains in secular life he will be a
Chakravartin monarch; if he leaves his home he will become a Buddha.” Turkaulia
Urf Karmahiya, the name itself hints at discussions over the Buddhas horoscope
by the rishi Asita and others. ‘Turk’ in rural north Indian language means
discussion. Karam means your deeds, so Turkauliya Urf Karmahiya means
discussions over ones Karam or deeds. Here it means future deeds. So this is
definitely the stupa where the Buddhas horoscope was discussed.
(e)Shau Deeh: In
page 16 last para Huen Tsang writes, “At the south gate of the city is a stupa.
This is where the royal prince when contending with the Sakya princes, cast the
elephant away.” Huen Tsang goes on to describe how the caparisoned elephant was
coming out of the gate when Devdutta attacked it, pulled its head down and
kicked it. When the elephant fell Devdutta kicked the stomach threreby
rendering it senseless. The animal lay blocking the gate. Nanda comes and
pushes it aside. When Gautama comes, he picks the carcass up and throws it
across the moat where it created a deep ditch. That ditch was called, “the
fallen elephant ditch.” Shau Deeh means just that. Shau means carcass so it
refers to the carcass of the elephant. Deeh means place or the place of the
carcass. This is no doubt the elephant’s carcass. Shau Deeh is important as it
gives us the position of the palace walls and palace gate. So Shau Deeh was
outside the southern gate of the palace.
(f)Ranipur Babu:
In page 17 last para second line Huen Tsang writes, “By the side again of this
is a vihara. This is the sleeping apartment of the queen and the prince; in it
is a likeness of Yashodhara and Rahula.” Slightly south east of Ranipur and
west of Shau Deeh or the elephant ditch is Ranipur Babu. Rani is the queen
Yashodhara and Babu is the child Rahul. In Bihar and eastern Up a child is
called a Babu. Though I saw no mother and child statue as Huen Tsang described,
the village is on a low stupa. I failed to find the statues Huen Tsang
mentioned because a dog chased me when I was snooping around.This put me off.
(g) Shri
Baudiharnath Dham: In page 18 third last para Huen Tsang writes, “To the south
of the city going fifty li or so; we come to an old town where there is a
stupa. This is the place where Krakuchchhanda Buddha was born, during the
bhadra kalpa when men lived to sixty thousand years.” Now fifty li’s equals to
14 kilometers. Exactly 14 km south as the crow flies, of Kote Khas, which I
have earmarked as the palace area, is Shri Baudiharnath Dham. This is on a
stupa and is now a revered Hindu temple. The bearings Huen Tsang gives in
connection with Kote Khas palace area and the exact distance stated by him,
including the similarity in names where the Buddha or Baudi is used in both, we
can safely state this is the ancient stupa of Krakuchchhanda Buddha Huen Tsang
has mentioned.
(h)Pipra Tappa
Kot or Koteshwar Nath temple: In page 18 second last para Huen Tsang writes,
“To the south of the city not far, there is a stupa; this is the place where
having arrived at complete enlightenment, he met his father.” This is the
Koteshwar Nath temple in Pipra Tappa Kot. This is south of Kote Khas which is
the palace area and the city. Huen Tsang goes on to describe an exaggerated
story of how king Sudhodhana went to receive his son the Buddha after he had
gained enlightenment. In page 21 last para Huen Tsang repeats this story in detail.
King Sudhodhana wants to meet the Buddha after his enlightenment. The Buddha
agrees and comes with his followers. The king with his courtiers leaves the
city and goes forty lis or 11 km south where he waits for his son in present
day Buddhiya village. Buddhiya will be a short form of ‘Buddha aah’ or ‘come
Buddha.’ But the Buddha come’s flying in the air so the king doubles back with
his courtiers and meets his son in a Nayagrodha grove. Huen Tsang says this
spot was marked. The marked spot is the Koteshwar Nath temple in Pipra tappa
Kot. There is a Shiva Linga in the temple which looks like a crude pillar. It
has been converted into a Shiva Linga. The area is called Pipra Tappa Kot which
clearly commemorates the event of father meeting the son. Pipar means a
nayagrodha tree. Tappa is an ancient form of the rural north Indian word
Tarpar. Tar means under and in this case under a Pipar tree. ‘Par’ means on top
which denotes a stupa. Kot is short form of Koteshwar Nath which in turn means
ruler of Koteshwar. Thus we realize that for the people of Koteshwar the Buddha
was always a Nath which means master of the house or country. Pipra Tappa Kot
means the master of Koteshwar under Nayagrodha or Pipal trees. This is
certainly the spot that marks the meeting place of father and son after the
Buddhas enlightenment. The high plinth of the temple hints that it was made on
top of a stupa.
(i)Siddhaur: In
the last para of page 18 Huen Tsang writes, “To the south east of the city is a
stupa where are that Tathagats relics of his bequeathed body; before is erected
a stone pillar about 30 feet high, on top of which is a carved lion. By its
sides is a record relating to the circumstances to his nirvana. It was erected
by Ashoka Raja.” This is clearly Siddhaur village which is on top of the relic
Asokan stupa. This stupa or village is exactly south east of Kote Khas or the
palace area just as Huen Tsang described. The stupa is low but huge with an
entire village settled on it. The village kept the stupas name alive. In the
name Siddhaur we realize the affection the people of Koteshwar had for the
Buddha. For them he was never a bhikshu. For them he was always Siddhaur the
ruler and not Siddharth the bhikshu. In ancient India Chatriyas added ‘aur’ to
the names of their rulers. That is why this villages name is Siddhaur and not
Siddharth. This stupa negates the claim of the Piprahwa stupa as the Buddha
relic stupa of the sakyas of Kapilavastu. Sakya country is Koteshwar Nath and
not Kapilavastu. The Piprahwa stupa is certainly not an Ashokan stupa so
basically the discovery of this stupa reignites the debate on the authenticity
of the Piprahwa stupa as a Buddha relic stupa of emperor Ashoka.
(j)Mahakaleshwar
Shiv temple Sultanpur: On page 19 second para Huen Tsang writes, “To the north
east of the town of Krakuchchanda Buddha, going about 30 li or so, we come to
an old capitol (or great city) in which there is a stupa. This is to
commemorate the spot where in the bhadra kalpa, when men lived to the age of
40000 years, Kanakmuni Buddha was born.” The Chinese thirty li is equal to the
Indian 8 km. Exactly eight kilometers north east of Shri Baudiharnath Dham
which is Huen Tsangs Krakuchchanda Buddha monastery is Mahakaleshwar Shiv
Mandir Sultanpur. This is a small nondescript Shiva temple on a stupa. The name
Mahakaleshwar or the simple Kaleshwar is the original Indian name of Kanakmuni
Buddha. Kanakmuni is a foreign Buddhist mispronounciation of Mahakaleshwar.
People don’t know its importance as Buddhism is lost to the area.
(k)Maharajgunj
village: In page 19 third para Huen Tsang writes, “To the north east of the
city not far, is a stupa. Having arrived at complete enlightenment, he met his
father.” This is clearly Maharjgunj as this village is on a stupa and is
exactly four kilometers north east of Kote Khas or the palace area. This is
where king Sudhodhana met his son the second time.
(l) Annapurna
Temple: in page 19 fourth para Huen Tsang writes, “Further north there is a
stupa containing the relics of his bequeathed body; in front of it is a stone
pillar with a lion on the top, and about 20 ft high; on this is inscribed a
record of the events connected with the nirvana. This was built by Ashoka
Raja.” This is the Annapurna temple which is on a small stupa. This will be the
original Buddha relic stupa of the Sakyas. Siddhaur is an Ashokan stupa not
made by the sakyas. Ashoka had a habit of opening the original stupas and
taking out most of the relics leaving only a chink. He then made new stupas
superior to the original one. He has done the same here. The Siddhaur stupa is
much more superior that the one near the Annapurna temple. The pillar is
missing as expected because we all know that King Shashank attacked and
ransacked all the original Buddhist sites and pillars.
(m)Manaurhi: In
page 19 last para Huen Tsang writes, “To the north east of the city about 40 li
is a stupa. This is the spot where the prince sat in the shade of a tree to
watch the ploughing festival. Here he engaged in profound meditation and
reached the stage of “absence of desire.” The reader will realize the last
statement ‘absence of desire’ suits the village name Manaurhi. This village is
exactly 11 km which is equal to Huen Tsangs 40 li north east of Kote Khas which
is the palace area. It was here while watching the ploughing festival the
Buddha meditated and became free of all worldly desires. The name Manaurhi
means just that. ‘Manua’ means desire caused by the mind (man) and the last
three letters ’rhi’ is a rural north Indian short form of the word ‘hari’ which
means to lose. So put together the word Manaurhi means to lose ones desires
created by the mind. The village is on a stupa.
(n)Bandrahi: In
page 20 second para Huen Tsang writes, “To the north west of the capitol there
are several hundreds and thousands of stupas, indicating the spot where the
members of the Sakya tribe were slaughtered. Virudhaka raja after having
subdued the Sakyas, and having captured the members of their tribe to the
number 9990 myriads of people, then ordered them to be slaughtered. They piled
their bodies like straw and their blood was collected in lakes. The Devas moved
the hearts of men who collected their bones and bury them.” Bandrahi village is
on stupas or mud mounds. I didn’t explore the area for more stupas as I didn’t
have time. The name ‘Band’ means captured or locked behind bars. The last four
letters ‘rahi’ means they were in a locker or behind bars. The modern Hindi
word for a jail bird is Bandi. So Bandrahi village is certainly on stupas that
comemorate that horrible defeat.
(o)Charu: In page 20 third para Huen tsang writes, “To
the south west of the place of massacre are four little stupas. This is the
place where the four Sakyas withstood an army.” Huen Tsang then goes on to
narrate the story of how Prasenajit Raja wanted to marry a Sakya woman. He
insisted so the Sakyas slyly supplied him the daughter of a low born servant.
Prasenajit made her his principal queen and she gave birth to Virudhaka who
wanted to do his schooling in his mother’s home. He goes to his mother’s home
and stops his chariot in front of a sakya study hall. The Sakyas disgrace him
and shoo him away as he is base born. So when Virudhaka becomes king he makes
an army and attacks the Sakyas to avenge his insult. But four Sakyas fight back
and stop an entire army. Their own people misunderstand the fight and because
of the wanton bloodshed banish them. So four stupas were made to mark the spot
between the water bodies. The four stupas are in village Charu. Charu is a
rural north Indian word which means ‘all four’. Charu is exactly south west of
Bandrahi just as Huen Tsang describes. Huen Tsang also speaks about a water
body between which the fight took place. This water body is ‘Charu talab’ which
is a little lake next to Charu village.
(p)Shukul Purva:
In page 22 second last para Huen Tsang writes, “By the side of the sanghrama
and not far from it, is a stupa; this is the spot where Tathagat sat beneath a
great tree with his face to the east and received from his aunt a golden
tissued kasaya garment.” This is Shukul Purva village as Purva means looking
east. Shukul means an auspicious time. This is an important custom for Hindus
of today not withstanding the fact that Buddhism was wiped out of this area.
Hindus face the east when wearing new clothes. This custom seems to have found
precedence in the Buddha looking eastwards when his mother presented him a
garment. The village Shukul Purva means exactly that and is situated on a low
stupa.
(q)Ukhara: In
page 22 last para Huen Tsang writes, “Within the eastern gate of the city on
the left of the road is a stupa; this is where the prince Siddhartha practiced
athletic sports and competitive arts.” This is the village of Ukhara which is
on a stupa. Ukhara is an ancient rendering of the modern word Akhara which
means a wrestling ground. Samuel Beal who translated Si-Yu-Ki into English is
an Englishman which is why he used the word athletics which people will mistake
for running, high jump, long jump, etc. This type of games didn’t exist in
ancient India. It was mostly wrestling. And the wrestling ground was called
Akhara. So Ukhara village stupa is definitely the ground where the Buddha
partook in wrestling and other ancient Indian athletic competitions. Ukhara is
important as according to Huen Tsang it demarcates the cities or the palace
areas boundary wall and the eastern gate as this was within the eastern gate of
the city. So Ukhara helps us to find the foundation of the wall and the eastern
gate of the city. This will be helpful in excavations.
(r)Temple Jwala
Mata Khar Khar Das Ashram: in page 23
first para Huen Tsang writes, “Outside the gate is the temple of Isvara Deva.
In the temple is a figure of the Deva made of stone, which has the appearance
of rising in a bent position. This is the temple which the royal prince when an
infant (in swaddling clothes) entered.” Huen Tsang further goes on to describe
that king Sudhodhana came back from a walk from the Lavani (La-fa-ni) garden after having gone to
meet the prince. He brought the child back and decided to take the infant to
the Deva temple for holy blessings. In the fourth last line in the same para
Huen Tsang writes, “At this time the nurse carrying the child in her arms,
entered the temple; then the stone image raised itself and saluted the infant.
When the prince left the image again seated itself.” This is a unique story and
maches the name of the Ashram. “Baba Khar Khar das Ashram.” Khar Khar means to
make a scraping noise. So Baba Khar Khar must mean the Baba or diety who made a
scraping noise he rose up as a stone image and saluted the Buddha. If a stone
image moves it will certainly make a scraping noise. This is why Huen Tsang
tells entire stories in his travelogue so that future Chinese who visited
India, and whose pronounciation of Indian words was as bad as his or worse,
could get aroundby telling the story of the place they wanted to visit.
Unfortunately I failed to locate this temple when I explored the area as no one
knew about it. It is now an obscure unknown little village temple which I missed.
I realized later the name Jwala mata was prefixed to Khar Khar Das which is why
locals failed to understand what I was looking for. Khara Khara Das was
superimposed by the word Jwala Mata which I think is the name that the temple
is known by. In my next trip I will locate and videograph this.
(s)Taraini: In the last para of page 23 Huen Tsang writes, “From this 30
Li south east is a small stupa. Here there is a fountain, the waters of which
are as clear as a mirror. Here its was during the athletic contest, that the
arrow of the prince, after penetrating the targets, fell and buried itself upto
the feather in the ground, causing a clear spring of water to flow forth.
Common tradition has called this the arrow fountain. Persons who are sick, by
drinking the water of this spring are mostly restored to health.” Exactly 30 li
south east or 8 kilometers south east of Ukhara village/stupa is Taraini
village settled on a stupa. This is beside a stream just as Huen Tsang
describes. The beauty of Ashokan stupas is the middle tip of the stupa pin
points the exact spot where a certain incident happened, in this case, the
exact spot the Buddhas arrow hit the ground and buried itself in to the
feather. Taraini means archery or archeror. The mileage of this stupa cum village
accurately tallies with Huen Tsangs bearings of 30 li south east of the
southern gate and 90 li south west of Rudhauli where the Buddha was born. The
mileage and bearings are exactly as Huen Tsang says. The accuracy is amazing.
(3) La-fa-ni/Rudhauli:
(Si-Yu-Ki page 24) Huen Tsang goes 80-90 Li’s north east from the arrow
fountain which today is Taraini village to a place called ‘La-fa-ni’. Eighty or
ninty li is equal to 25 and 22 km as the crow flies. On measuring the mileage,
I realized the name most similar to La-fa-ni where the 90 Li ends is Rudhauli.
It is a rural town slightly north of Basti in UP and south west of Lumbini.
According to Huen Tsang this was the birth place of the Buddha and not the
place in Nepal that is called Lumbini. Lumbini fails to have any spot connected
to Lord Buddha according to Huen Tsangs description. Rudhauli has them all.
Lumbini was discovered by Alois Anton Fuherer a man who was ousted from the
Archaelogical survey of India in disgrace after he was forced to accept in
writing that he had written all lies. I will describe all the spots Huen Tsang
saw in Rudhauli when he visited this place.The reader will be amazed at the
accuracy.
(a) (1) Samay Mata
temple: To start off I will quote Huen Tsang from his book “Si-Yu-Ki,” page 24.
He writes “Here is the bathing tank of the Sakyas, the water is as bright and
pure as a mirror.” Huen Tsang is describing the ancient tank of Mudiyar lake on
whose banks is the modern day Sarghat temple. Unfortunately the temple is to
the east of the lake and doesn’t tally with Huen Tsang who says the Buddha was
born 75 feet to the north of the lake. And I believe on his accuracy. The
reason I chose this temple as a possible option is because in the third
paragraph of the same page he writes, “to the north of this 23 or 24 paces (65
feet) there is an Ashoka flower tree which is now decayed; this is the place
where the Boddhisattva was born on the eight day of the second half of the
month of Vaisakh.” In Rudhauli very close to the Sarghat temple is a place
called Bankat Baisakh which is on a stupa. I chose this place because the name
Baisakh matches with the month Vaisakh when the Buddha was born. I would say
the Buddha was born here. (2) Another option, and the strongest one, of his birthplace is a village called
Paida which means birth. The village has an ancient pond just as Huen Tsang
describes with bricks before the pond. The very name Paida is unique and hints
at an important person’s birth. (3) To strenghthen the village of Paida’s claim as
the birthplace of Lord Buddha is the nearby village of Khamba which means a
pole. In page 25 second last para Huen Tsang writes, “By the side of these
stupas and not far from them is a great stone pillar, on the top of which is
the figure of a horse, which was built by Ashoka Raja. Afterwards by
contrivance of a wicked dragon, it was broken off in the middle and fell to the
ground.” From the quote the reader will realize the pillar did not have a cap
which generally Ashokan pillars had. That is why this particular pillar got the
name ‘Khamba’ or pole. In direct contrast to Huen Tsangs Vaishali, the Ashokan
pillar he mentions there is called a Chatriya because when he visited it there
was a lion on top of the pillar. So the Vaishali pillar was capped which is why
that area is today called Chatriya. The Ashokan pillar Huen Tsang saw near
Rudhauli was uncapped as the horse figure had fallen off. This is why this
pillar will have been called ‘Khamba’ which means pole which is the name of the
village near ‘Paida.’ So this village on a stupa next to the Paida village pond
could be the birthplace of the Buddha. Excavations will throw up ancient facts.
(b) In the same
page in the last para Huen Tsang writes, “To the east of this stupa are two
fountains of pure water, by the side of which have been built two stupas. This
is the place where two dragons appeared from the earth. When Bodhisattva was
born the attendants and household relations hastened in every direction to find
water for the use of the child.” Apparantly according to Huen Tsang when the
Buddha was born people ran around in search of water so two streams were formed
magically and two dragons appeared to bathe the Buddha. To the west of the
Rudhauli to Basti road are two ponds which match this description. The first is
Sekhoi Khurd pond and south of this is the Sekhui Kalan pond. I chose these
ponds because of their names Sekhui which is similar to the Bihari word
‘Sekna,’ which in English means massage or wash. We must remember they used hot
and cold water to wash the infant Buddha.
© In page 25
second para Huen Tsang writes, “To the south of this is a stupa. This is the
spot where Sakra king of Devas received Bodhisattva in his arms.” To the south
of Sekhui kalan is Tegoadwa and south of Tegoadwa is a village called Tegoadia.
Huen Tsangs stupas were in these villages as we know entire north India settled
down on these stupas. Unfortunately these stupas were dug up and the mud used
for mud filling somewhere else. What is left is stubs in the ground where these
stupas once stood. I chose Tegoadia and Tegoadwa because of the similarity with
the rural Bihari word Goadi which means lap or arms. So the place where Sakra
king of Devas took the child in his arms will be Tegoadwa and the place where
the other devas took the child and praised it will be Tegoadia.
(d) In the first
line of the fourth para Huen Tsang writes, “by the side of these stupas and not
far from them is a great stone pillar on top of which is the figure of a horse,
which was built by Ashoka Raja.” Huen Tsang goes on to say a wicked dragon
broke the horse figure. This should be found in a place called Khambha. We all
know that pillars or long poles standing upright and erect are called Khambha.
Since the horse on top had broken off, the pillar remained which is why it must
have got its name Khamba.If it was capped with an animal on top it would have
been called Chatriya like the area in Huen Tsangs Vaishali (not the
misidentified Vaishali) where the latter stated was a lion pillar. I did a
hasty search in the area of Khamba but despite the name of the village, I
failed to find the pillar. A proper search of the village will yield results.
(e) Huen Tsang further goes on to say in line 5
of the fourth para, “By the side of it is a little river which flows to the
south east. The people in the place call it the river of oil. This is the
stream which the Devas caused to appear as a pure and glistening pool, for the
queen when she had brought forth the child to wash and purify herself in.” This
river can be seen in satellite pictures approximately 3000 meters to the east
of ‘Tegoadwa’ and flows towards the south east. This is Huen Tsangs river of
oil.
Here is the link to the youtube video showing these places:
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