Earliest shrine' uncovered at Buddha's birthplace

BBC News and Environment ^ | 25 November 2013 | James Morgan

[ThanhPhero]

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. Radiocarbon

Every year thousands of Buddhists make a holy pilgrimage to Lumbini - long identified as the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha. Continue reading the main story Lumbini

Located in the south-western Nepali plains 300km from Kathmandu and very close to India's border Birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who later become the Buddha Designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1997 Surrounded by large zone in which only monasteries can be built and no commercial premises The site has a number of ancient ruins of monasteries, a sacred Bo Tree and a bathing pool

Lumbini: What happened to 'Buddhist Mecca'? Buddhism at a glance

Yet despite the many texts chronicling his life and teachings, it is still uncertain when he lived.

Estimates for his birth stretch as far back as 623 BC, but many scholars believed 390-340 BC a more realistic timeframe.

[driftdiver]

"Good Buddhists don’t worship Buddha, nor do they pray to him. He’s not a god. “

You are correct. I know several Chinese who believe in Buddhism as a way of life, and believe in Jesus as their savior. They say the two paths are in perfect concordance."

I've spent a lot of time in South Korea where they have extensive temples. I've been in numerous temples which have been there since the beginning of the religion; 1000-2000 years. I've seen the 60 foot tall gold plated buddha built in 1200 AD.

Every single temple has a multitude of buddha icons. Many of which people bow down in worship too and dedicate offerings. You can argue that its a philosophy and not a religion but the evidence indicates otherwise.