Priceless relics of the Buddha found

Dr. Ranajit Pal, Ph.D.

Bones of the Buddha is a documentary about the British excavation of one of the eight stupas (Buddhist burial mound and reliquary found in Piprahwa, now India, near the border with Nepal) where the historical Buddha's cremation remains (sarira or relics) were placed after the Buddha's final nirvana (parinibbana). More

• Ranajit Pal's Non-Jonesian Indology and Alexander makes sense of the ancient history of proto-India and India and sheds light on the real motives of Alexander the Great in his Gedrosian expedition.

What treasure was in the stupa?

(Doug's Dhamma) William Claxton Peppe excavates on his land in India

Bones of the Buddha: full documentary puts this monumental find in context

• Charles Allen; Bones of the Buddha (documentary); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha's Bones: burial mound stupas

Look what I found, Coolies! - Yes, Sahib, you are a genius to dig up sacred religious monuments.

Bones of the Buddha

What are Buddhist cremation "relics"?

(PBS Documentary) The mystery surrounding the bones of the [historical] Buddha dates back more than 100 years ago. When colonial estate manager Willie Peppe set his workers digging at a mysterious "hill" (Piprahwa Stupa) in Northern India in 1898, he had no idea what they would find. Just over 20 feet down, they made an amazing discovery: a huge stone coffer [like the amazing Bimaran casket's steatite container], containing five reliquary jars [with rare spiritual relics known as Śarīras], more than 1,000 separate jewels, and some ash and bone.

• Discovery of arrowheads suggests human achievements occurred much earlier than believed

The Buddha in gold (British Museum)

One of the jars bore an inscription that appeared to say that these were the remains of the Buddha himself. This seemed to be the most extraordinary find in Indian archeology. But doubt and scandal have hung over this amazing find for more than 100 years. For some, the whole thing has to be an elaborate hoax [employing countless artisans to recreate ancient treasures, fraudulent archeologists, fake workers, and corrupt Indian and British politicians]. For others, it is no less than [one of] the [eight or so] final resting place[s] of the leader of one of the world's great religions, a sage who passed into final nirvana 2,600 years ago. For the doubters, suspicion focuses on a key figure from the time, disgraced German archeologist Dr. A. Anton Fuhrer. Renowned historian Charles Allen sets out to solve this extraordinary mystery [for PBS] once and for all. #BuddhaBones #BuddhaAshes #BuddhaRelic #Buddhism

• World's oldest burial site wasn't created by our species
• Artifact encased in ancient rock sparks decades-long mystery

Ancient shrine that may hold the Buddha's skull bone found in crypt (Live Science)

Bhutan (Peterwescarey/flickr.com)

The history of buddhas on earth (Bhumi) and on the human plane (manussya loka) in general is very strange and prehistoric. We have the historical Buddha as our source of information about prehistoric buddhas (seven recent among 28 named in this incredibly long cycle or recent cycles, kalpas, of time). The Buddha in prescribing burial practices of noble ones (Aryans, arhats) detailed an ancient Central and North Asian custom of dolmens, tumuli, kurgans, barrows, long barrows, chortens, burial mounds or what are known in Buddhism today as stupas. The Buddha, after passing into final nirvana, planned for his mortal remains to be divided among great rulers of that time. He chose a very rural and out-of-the-way place at which to pass. His attendant Ananda was shocked that he would leave the world in such a spot, until the Buddha revealed to him that in the distant past, this spot (Kushinagar near modern Gorakhpur, India) was once the center of a prosperous kingdom in super-ancient times. Moreover, it was between the current kingdoms of great kings.

North Asian style stupa burial mound topped by statue of buried person? (Abdul Mohammadi)

.

How many millions of years old could they be?

If he had passed away within any of these, that king would have enshrined the precious relics in one great dolmen in stupa. Instead, many got the chance to do so by partitioning them, with one going to the celestial devas (in "heaven") and another going to the partitioner, who saw to their care. These were not the first stupas as many might think. It was an ancient custom all the way to Ukraine. Modern Tibetan Buddhists know this and visit secret ancient sites of other buddhas and arhats in Central and North Asia, rumor has it. Sadly, archeologists argue and do not recognize all discoveries of treasure within them unless they accord with preconceived notions of where they should be located. So the ones in Afghanistan and outside modern India get shorter shrift. This is most shockingly true as exposed in the movie Bones of the Buddha, where a stupa or dolmen ("portal tomb") was opened, its treasures looted and taken to England, and rather than being clawed back by the Indian government or Buddhists was allowed to be passed on from the British excavator (looter) to his son, who keep this priceless Buddhist treasures in his little cottage in England, much of it under his bed. Ancient Scythians and other tribes all over Central and North Asia built these funerary sites, reliquaries, mounds to enshrine significant individuals. Originally, they were topped with statuary figures rather than the pagodas that came to be in South, East, and Southeast Asia.

Giant prehistoric dolmens in the Caucasus built with advanced technology

Stupas everywhere in the land of Pagan (Bagan), Burma (Myanmar).

.

Gold container of the Buddha's relics

(Universe Inside You) Aug. 14, 2024: Join us in fueling our mission to create insightful videos backed by thorough research by supporting us on Patreon or PayPal: universeinsideyou (paypal.com/donate...). All support can help UIY dive even deeper into topics that matter, enabling them to produce engaging content that informs and inspires. By contributing, one is not just backing a project, one is empowering a wealth of knowledge to be shared. Stand with UIY as they strive to bring meaningful videos to life. Every contribution counts. Discover a world of creativity at this art and merchandise shop: teespring.com/stores/universe... Join on: Instagram: universe.inside.you Facebook: universalloving. For Spanish-narrated videos, visit UIY's Spanish channel: universe inside you español #universeinsideyou

Debate: Where'd the Buddha grow up? (Aug 4)

National Geographic, Bones of the Buddha; Duarte Elks Lodge, Ven. Dr. Karunananda, Sunil Jayasinghe; Dr. Ranajit Pal (ranajitpal.com); Dhr. Seven, A. Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Kapilavastu was a seasonal capital city, not a country, where Prince Siddhartha lived.

PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL DEBATE OVER THE TRUE LOCATION OF ANCIENT CITY OF KAPILAVASTU

Afghanistan is the Buddha's country.

The public is invited to an intellectual debate over the true location of the Ancient Kapilavastu where the historical Buddha lived for the first 29 years of his life. Debaters: Theravada Buddhist monk Ven. Dr. Karunananda, Abbot of Bodhi Mission of Long Beach, with a doctoral degree in archeology from India (who maintains it is Piprahwa, as this video illustrates relic remains were recovered), and architect Dr. Sunil Jayasinghe (a dullard who maintains that Prince Siddhartha must have been raised in the "country" of modern Tilaurakot, Nepal, when it was Kapilavastu although Kapilavastu was but one of three seasonal capital cities of "Shakya Land"/Scythia in what maverick Indian historian Dr. Ranajit Pal locates in modern Afghanistan and such sites as Bamiyan [and we would add Mes Aynak and Kabul/Kabil]). Public welcome. FREE.

• Elks Lodge, 2436 Huntington Dr., Duarte
• Saturday, August 4, 2018, 3:00-5:00 pm
• Refreshments served at 2:30 pm
• Info: Sunil Jayasinghe (626) 353-2841

Where did the Buddha really grow up?

GrecoBuddha (blog.nationmultimedia.com)

Let’s assume Buddha was a historical person. So where was he born? Legend has it that he was born in a park at Lumbini, near a town called Kapilavastu (the capital of his father's "kingdom"). And where is Kapilavastu?

The location of ancient Kapilavastu is still not unanimously accepted: Generally, Indian guidebooks consider Piprahwa to be the real Kapilavastu, while Nepalese guidebooks consider Tilaurakot to be the real Kapilavastu.

According to Heather Hindman ("Touring Lumbini: On Buddhist Centers and National Margins,” University of Chicago), “The location of the sage's birth lies in the ancient land ruled by the father of Siddhartha, which probably crosses the current border of Nepal and India. Yet, in the present era in which a major tourist site can dramatically alter the economy of a small country like Nepal, the two nations find it vital to fix the location of the birth on one side of the border or the other."

But there is compelling evidence to show that Lumbini is an astonishing fraud, begun in 1896, and unwittingly fostered ever since. The man responsible was Dr. Alois Anton Führer, a German archaeologist employed by the (British) Government of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh between 1885-98, and co-discoverer of the present Lumbini site. See this website for details: "Lumbini on Trial: The Untold Story" (http://www.lumkap.org.uk/).

• More>> Including responses from Dr. Ranajit Pal, the foremost scholar on this matter