Heritage · Gotihawa
Ashoka's pillar in the middle of a village
A short guided stop at the stump of Gotihawa's Ashokan pillar and the stupa mound behind it, with the story of Krakuchchanda Buddha and the archaeology that tied this village to the pilgrims' accounts.
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We pull up at the edge of the village and walk the last few metres to the enclosure. Your guide starts with the stone itself: sandstone, worked and polished in the Mauryan style, set in the ground more than 2,200 years ago and broken at some point since.
Behind it the stupa mound rises a few metres above the fields. Your guide will explain what the Italian excavations of the 1990s found and how Faxian's and Xuanzang's descriptions of a stupa for Krakuchchanda Buddha led archaeologists here.
Then there is the bigger idea: that Ashoka, the greatest patron of early Buddhism, honoured not only Gautama but the Buddhas before him. The stump at Gotihawa is one of the few physical traces of that belief.
Good for
Questions
Does the Gotihawa pillar have an inscription?
No inscription survives on the Gotihawa pillar. Only the broken lower part remains in place, and the upper part, which may have carried an inscription and a capital, is lost. Some scholars think the inscribed fragments at Niglihawa may originally have belonged to this base.
Who was Krakuchchanda Buddha?
Krakuchchanda, called Kakusandha in Pali, is named in Buddhist texts as the first of the Buddhas of the present age, before Konagamana, Kassapa and Gautama. The Buddhavamsa says he was born at Khemavati, which tradition identifies with Gotihawa. Theravada Buddhists in particular honour these earlier Buddhas.
How long do I need at Gotihawa?
Thirty to 45 minutes is enough to see the pillar and stupa and hear the story. Gotihawa is usually combined with Tilaurakot, Kudan and Niglihawa in a 6–7 hour day trip from Lumbini, with lunch in Taulihawa.
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