Nepal seeks UNESCO World Heritage status for Tilaurakot, Buddha’s early home.

After paying homage in Lumbini, Premadasa wished to visit Tilaurakot, an ancient Shakya capital city where Siddhartha Gautam spent his princely life before he became the Buddha.

He told his guide Bhikshu Maitri Mahasthvir that his visit would be incomplete unless he saw Tilaurakot. But the monk replied that there was no motorable road to Tilaurakot, about 26 kilometres west of Lumbini.

The monk then conveyed Premadasa’s wish to Prime Minister Marichman Singh and Transportation Minister Prakash Chandra Lohani, who also said that a visit to Tilaurakot would be challenging. A resolute Premadasa then directly requested King Birendra.

“Two army helicopters landed in Lumbini the next day. Later it was known that the Royal Palace had sent the choppers to take Premadasa and his entourage to Tilaurakot,” said Maitri Mahasthvir recalling the visit. He said Premadasa had expressed great joy upon reaching the historical site. “I feel blessed. My Lumbini visit would have been incomplete if I had not come here,” the Bhikshu quoted the Sri Lankan prime minister as saying during his Tilaurakot visit.

An international mission is set to visit the very site of Tilaurakot to evaluate the site for potential inclusion as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) plans to visit Tilaurakot in August and later submit its report to UNESCO. There will be discussions after the mission submits its report to UNESCO.

The 46th session of the World Heritage Committee, which is scheduled to be held in India from July 21 to 31 this year, will decide the time and venue of the 47th session.

ICOMOS has already written to Sudheer Bhattarai, Nepal’s permanent representative to UNESCO who also serves as Nepal’s ambassador to France, regarding its upcoming visit to Tilaurakot.

“Following the evaluation, the advisory body discusses the report and makes recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. The 47th session of the World Heritage Committee slated in 2025 will take the final decision,” said Gyanin Rai, the senior administrative officer of Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) who is also the coordinator of Tilaurakot Nomination Dossier Preparation Committee.

Nepali authorities are hopeful about the council’s visit thinking that it will pave the way for the inclusion of the historical site on the World Heritage Sites list. The LDT has been working on beautifying the Tilaurakot area ahead of the visit. The LDT already issued a tender to dismantle its concrete liaison office.

“We notified 37 houses of Shivagadh village, which lies in the west from Tilaurakot, to vacate by July 15. They have been provided compensation. The trust also urged 13 other houses in the area to collect their compensation,” said Sanuraj Shakya, the member secretary of the LDT.

The federal government acquired around 50 bighas (around 34 hectares) of land in the surrounding area with the purpose of including Tilaurakot on the World Heritage Sites list. The government has already declared around 100 bighas (around 68 hectares) of land around Tilaurakot as a protected monument zone.

The Tilaurakot area, which initially spread in 35 bighas (approximately 24 hectares), now spans around 85 bigha (around 58 hectares), with authorities gradually acquiring more land.

The authorities have intensified efforts to clear and beautify the area. “We are working tirelessly to impress the International Council on Monuments and Sites mission. We should accomplish the quest started some 29 years ago to enlist Tilaurakot as a World Heritage Site. For this, support from the local unit, provincial government, federal government and the general public is essential,” said Rai.

Bhattarai, Nepal’s permanent representative to UNESCO, had formally submitted the nomination document to Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of World Heritage at the UNESCO in January. The 21-member World Heritage Committee has the authority to decide whether Tilaurakot will be added to the World Heritage Sites list. Five Asian countries—Japan, South Korea, India, Qatar, and Kazakhstan—are the current members of the committee.

A team led by Vice-chairman of the Lumbini Development Trust Lharkyal Lama already visited ambassadors of Japan, South Korea, India and Qatar to Nepal and urged them to support Nepal’s bid to enlist Tilaurakot as a World Heritage Site.

Tilaurakot is an ancient Shakya capital city where Siddhartha Gautam spent his princely life before he became the Buddha.

The excavation project has been continued in Tilaurakot and other monuments in its vicinity since 2013. The excavation led by British archaeologist Robin Coningham of Durham University, UK unearthed various ruins, coins, pottery, and other artefacts, providing scientific evidence of an ancient civilisation dating back to at least 2,800 years. Recent discoveries and scientific dating of these artefacts also indicate that Tilaurakot showed first signs of urbanisation as early as the sixth century BCAt the turn of the fifth century, travelling through South Asia, Chinese monk Faxian had described a flourishing city along what is today the Nepal-India border. Almost two hundred years later, Xuanzang, another Chinese monk and scholar, described seeing a similar flourishing kingdom.

Recently, an archaeological survey that has been ongoing since 2013 has unearthed evidence suggesting that the sites described by the two ancient travellers align with what has been buried underground for centuries.

During excavations in Tilaurakot in 2015, archaeologists unearthed 494 ancient “punch mark” coins in an earthen pot during the excavation in Tilaurakot in 2015. During an excavation in Tilaurakot in 2015, archaeologists had recovered 494 ancient “punch mark” coins in an earthen pot. And in 2016, archaeologists had found remnants of houses, roads, walls and wells after three years of digging. Similarly, post holes were also found in the area during the earlier excavation.

Based on the findings and its historical as well as archaeological significance, Australian heritage expert Duncan Marshall with support from Coningham, Kai Weise, Yukio Nishimura, Yani Joshi and Basanta Bidari, prepared the nomination dossier for Tilaurakot. Marshall had previously prepared the nomination dossier for the Kathmandu Valley.

UNESCO enlisted Tilaurakot in its tentative list in 1996. Since then, the government and the authorities concerned started collecting evidence, facts and scientific data to establish Tilaurakot as a culturally, historically, and archaeologically significant heritage site. If approved by the World Heritage Committee, Tilaurakot will become Nepal’s fifth World Heritage Site after the Kathmandu Valley, Lumbini, Chitwan National Park and Sagarmatha National Park.

Manoj Paudel

The Kathmandu Post

Asia News Network