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13 Dec, 2013

Buddha’s birthplace brings light to Nepal – Al Jazeera

The discovery of the world’s earliest Buddhist temple, marking the birthplace of the Buddha south of the Himalayas in Nepal, could give a powerful push in the drive to lift nearby villagers out of crushing poverty.

Visits by some of the world’s 500 million Buddhists to this holy site near Nepal’s border with India could help the region create a framework for sustainable development linked to these pilgrimages, said scholars involved in the discovery.

Archaeologists recently revealed they had uncovered a wooden structure, surrounded by an open-air courtyard, that dated from 2,550 years ago and was situated directly beneath a brick temple built three centuries later to venerate the birth of the Buddha.

Read the rest: Buddha’s birthplace brings light to Nepal – Features – Al Jazeera English.