Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1900-10-04
WHERE suDDHA is BURIED.
Tomb Of the Great Teacher Found at
the Foot of the Himalayas.

the Foot of the Himalayas.
According to London advces. Prof
Rhys Davids, the well-know Sansluit
scholar, has located the tomb Of
Buddha in the district at the foot OF
the Nepalese Himalaya, where the
/ founder OF religion that now mum
bsrs 350000.O00 believers moved aud
| lived and died Buddha was born eth.
| er in 566 or 552 b. c., and died in eth
er 4S2 or Az B. c. There is some
doubt as TO the exact dates. Prof Da-
vids has been working for some time
| in the region OF the the Basti district,
on the west of Gorakhpur in India,
which is the district intimately asso-
ciated with incidents in the life Of
| Buddha and the Sakya tribe, from
! which he came. Here there are several
Of the stone frontier pillars erected by
the great Asoka, recording his visits
to the shrines. The most important of
these is the one erected at Padaria,
bearing the inscription written by
Asoka about 253 B. c., recording the
fact that the pillar marks the site of
the garden where Buddha was born.
The neighboring ruins of Kapilayas
tn. Buddha's native town, are on the
banks OF the Banganga river. which
! descends from the Himalayas and
flows through rich plain. The plain
belongs chiefly to Europeans and has
within the last half century been
! transformed from primeyal forest and
/ jungle into rich and wellcultivated
fields. All this region is described by
Prof Dayids as covered with small
mounds, marking ia most cases stu.
pas, or Buddhist burialplaces. Among
! the largest of these is one situated
near the village OF Piprahwa, from
which it derives it's name This stupa
is on the land OF the Birdpur grant
which was in charge Of w Pepe who
was associated with Prof. Day.ds in
making the excavations. The mound
rises to a height OF about q feet
above the plain and is about 116 feet
| in diameter at the base.
Excavations were commenced in
January, 1898, and at the lowest depth
a steatite vase, filled with small orna-
nents and beads Of crystal, gold, anne
thyst and small objects OF gold leaf
was found The stupa Is composed OF
solid brick work, but down the center
is a curious pipe,like drain, the object
of which is obscure At the depth of
eighteen feet below the surface a cur
ious discovery was made, IN the form
of large stone slab about four feet
by two feet, evidently covering some
receptacle
Removing this cover, a stone chest
was seen, in which were found three
urns, a box of steatite and crystal
bowl These objects were most beau.
tifully finished and polished and pre-
scented all the appearance Of glass. 1t
was evident that the Golfer concealed
some precious relics. The urns con
tanned ornaments in gold. gold beads
and curious impressions of a woman's
figure the'uppar part Of the BODY nude,
resembling Partbian work.
Some OF these gold-leaf fragments
bore figures Of elephants and lions and
scroll ornaments and were evidently
taken from engraved gems or tokens.
There we're also pieces decorated with
/ tho "savast!ka' or Buddhist cross.
Among what at one time we're evi.
IDENTIFY personal ornaments pearls Of
! considerable size we're conspicuous a
1 few fragments Of wire found show that
/ these. with beads Of many kinds had
I once formed necklaces.
70 whom was this ancient shrine
erectad2 Maniiestly to some person o.
note. One Of the vases is inscribed in
/ Pail letters OF an archaic type and. ac-
/ cordng to Professor Rhys Dayids,
reads as follows: