Tilaurakot, ancient capital where Gautam Buddha lived for 29 years, fails to get UNESCO World Heritage status

Tilaurakot, the ancient capital of the Shakya Republic where Gautam Buddha spent 29 years, was not added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.

At the 47th UNESCO session held in Paris, there were two days of discussions on the proposal to include Tilaurakot in the World Heritage list, but it was not approved.

According to the report from ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites), UNESCO’s main technical advisor, the attempt to get Tilaurakot listed failed, said senior director Gyanin Rai of the Lumbini Development Trust.

ICOMOS recommended postponing the proposal, and since no other country supported Nepal’s request with amendments, the proposal was not accepted. Rai said, “We had hope because of years of hard work and millions spent, but we did not succeed.”

Diplomacy seen as weak

Sources say that Nepal’s diplomatic efforts were weak, which led to Tilaurakot not being listed.

There are also guesses that indirect pressure from India played a role in ICOMOS’s negative recommendation.

India is influential in UNESCO and claims the ancient Shakya kingdom’s capital is in Piprahwa and Ganwaria, located in Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharthnagar district.

A team including Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Badri Prasad Pandey, Lumbini Development Trust Vice-chair Dr. Lharkyal Lama, and senior director Rai attended the discussions in Paris to protect Tilaurakot and prevent any threat to Buddha’s birthplace, Lumbini.

The 47th UNESCO session also removed Lumbini from the list of World Heritage sites under threat for one year.

Sanuraja Shakya, member secretary of the Lumbini Development Trust, said the failure was due to weak cultural diplomacy despite long efforts.

Archaeological significance

Archaeologist Himal Upreti of the Trust said excavations and research at Tilaurakot for the past 11 years have confirmed archaeological finds and ruins dating back to the 8th century BC.

He added, “Tilaurakot is the largest open-air museum in South Asia and a well-preserved and important historical site.”

UNESCO had placed Tilaurakot on the tentative list of World Heritage sites in 1996. The Nepal government included the plan to get Tilaurakot officially listed in its 2021-22 policy programs.

In the 45th World Heritage Committee meeting, promotional programs related to Tilaurakot and Kapilvastu were also held.

This time, 32 sites from around the world were discussed for nomination, including 24 cultural, 7 natural, and 1 mixed site. The session started on July 6 and will continue until July 16.

Excavations at Tilaurakot have been ongoing since 1957 (2014 BS). Archaeologists say that the city was well-organized about 300 years before Buddha’s time, whose birth was 2,500 years ago. This proves that human civilization and city life existed at Tilaurakot before Buddha was born.

To get listed as a World Heritage site, a protected monument area must be declared. The Nepal government, Archaeology Department, Lumbini Development Trust, and Kapilvastu municipality started local discussions and work to fulfill this requirement.

The main area of Tilaurakot (core zone) covers about 140 bighas (a local land measure).