Kapilvastu (also known by name of Taulihawa) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and administrative center of

Kapilvastu District Kapilvastu district ( ne, कपिलवस्तु जिल्ला ), often Kapilbastu, is one of the districts of Lumbini Province, Nepal. The district, with Kapilbastu municipality as its district headquarters, covers an area of and in ...

in Lumbini Province of southern

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. The municipality is located roughly to the south-west of Lumbini, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

and the birthplace of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

. Kapilvastu Municipality was established in 1982 with the name of Taulihawa Nagarpanchayat merging Baragdawa, Maalpara, Pipari, Kapilvastu Adarsh Gaau and some portion of Tilaurakot, Gotihawa and Gobari Gaunpanchayat. Later on 7 November 2014 remaining region of

Gotihawa Gotihawa (formerly called Gutivā in Western sources) is a village development committee located about southeast of Kapilavastu, in Kapilvastu District, in the Lumbini Zone of southern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a popula ...

and

Tilaurakot Tilaurakot is a neighborhood in Kapilvastu Municipality in Kapilvastu District, in the Lumbini Province of southern Nepal. Previously it was a Village development committee. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 5684 people ...

VDC were included making total 19 wards within this Municipality. On March 10, 2017, the

Government of Nepal The Government of Nepal ( ne, नेपाल सरकार) is the federal executive authority of Nepal. Prior to the abolition of the Nepali monarchy in 2006 (became republic in 2008), it was officially known as His Majesty's Government. T ...

restructured the local level bodies into 753 new local level structures. The previous Taulihawa Municipality with

Dharampaniya Dharampaniya is a village development committee in Kapilvastu District in the Lumbini Zone of southern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of ...

Dohani Dohani is a village development committee in Kapilvastu District in the Lumbini Zone of southern Nepal. When the 1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of Statistics. Wor ...

Jahadi Jahadi is a village development committee located at the southwest corner of Jagdishpur Reservoir, in Kapilvastu District in the Lumbini Zone of southern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread nationa ...

Nigalihawa Nigalihawa is a village development committee in Kapilvastu District in the Lumbini Zone of southern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census, it had a population of 7564 people living in 1231 individual households. History Nigalihawa was kno ...

and Sauraha VDCs were merged to form Kapilvastu Municipality. Now total area of the municipality is and total population is 76,394. The municipality is now divided into 12

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

. The municipality lies at an altitude of above sea level

History

Many historians claim

located in Kapilavastu municipality (Taulihawa) to be the ancient city of Kapilavastu. On the other hand, some other archaeologists have identified present-day Piprahwa, India as the location for the historical site of Kapilavastu. The 19th-century search for the historical site of Kapilavastu followed the accounts left by Faxian and later by

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

, who were Chinese

Buddhist monks A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist c ...

who made early pilgrimages to the site. Kapilavastu was an ancient city and the capital city of the Shakya kingdom. King Śuddhodana and Queen Māyā are believed to have lived at Kapilavastu, as did their son Prince Siddartha Gautama until he left the palace at the age of 29.

Historical sites

There are many sites of historical interest in or very close to Kapilavastu, including: * Amaulikot * Arourakot Darbar * Bardahawa * Bargadawa Stupa * Bikulikot * Derwa Stupa *

kot *

, birthplace of Kakusandha Buddha, marked by an Ashoka pillar *

Jagdishpur Reservoir The Jagdishpur Reservoir is a reservoir in Jahadi Village development committee (Nepal), Village Development Committee, Kapilvastu District, Nepal which was named after Er. Jagadish Jha who designed and supervised the construction of Banaganga dam ...

* Kanthak Stupa *

Kapilvastu Museum Kapilavastu Museum is a cultural and religious museum in Tilaurakot, Nepal. Kapilavastu is the ancient city of the Sakyas, Sakyamuni Buddha son of Suddhodhan. There are more than 136 archaeological sites in the territory of ancient Kapilavastu. Ti ...

* Kopawa Stupa *

Nigrodharama Nigrodhārāma was a Banyan grove near Kapilavastu, where a residence was provided for the Buddha when he visited the city in the first year after his Enlightenment. It belonged to a Sākyan named Nigrodha, the monk who made Ashoka, the Mauryan ...

, the ruins of a Buddhist monastery where Gautama Buddha is believed to have stayed when visiting Kapilavastu * Lohasariya Stupa * Lumbini, the birthplace of

* Nigali Sagar, an archeological site in

, birthplace of Koṇāgamana Buddha, marked by an Ashoka pillar * Paltimai Temple *

Pipara Stupa Pipara or Pipa (3rd century AD) was the daughter of , king of the Marcomanni in present-day Bohemia. She is notable for having a love affair with the emperor Gallienus, having been given to him by Attalus as a tool of appeasement. Attalus' invasi ...

Pipari Pipari is a village development committee in Kapilvastu District (Kapilbastu) in the Lumbini Zone of southern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bu ...

* Piprahwa, a village and archaeological site in Siddharthnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, India that may be one of the burial sites of a portion of the ashes of Gautama Buddha * Premnagar Stupa *

Ramagrama stupa Ramagrama stupa ( ne, रामग्राम नगरपालिका, also Ramgram, Rāmgrām, Rāmagrāma) is a stupa located in Ramgram Municipality, in the Parasi District of Nepal. This Buddhist pilgrimage site containing relics of Ga ...

, believed to be the only intact and original stupa containing relics of Buddha * Rampur Siddhipur Stupa * Sagarahawa Reservoir * Sarkup Pokhari * Semara Shiv Mandir * Sihokhor Stupa * Siseniya Stupa * Tauleshwor Nath Mandir (''Shree Tauleshwor Nath Mandir'') is a devotional temple for Hindus. Many Hindus come here to worship

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

during the

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri (IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava. In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ca ...

festival. *

* Twin Stupa

Notes

External links

Lumbini On Trial: The Untold Story
by Terry Phelps. See Section 'The Kapilavastu of the Chinese Pilgrims' and following passage also. {{Buddhism topics Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Nepal Gautama Buddha Populated places in Kapilvastu District Transit and customs posts along the India–Nepal border Municipalities in Lumbini Province Nepal municipalities established in 1982 Archaeological sites in Nepal

History

Historical sites

See also

Notes

External links