| Gotihawa | |
|---|---|
|
[[File:|250x250px|frameless|center]] | |
| Settlement type | Village development committee |
| Country | India |
| State | |
| District | |
| Subdivision | |
Gotihawa (formerly called Gutivā in Western sources) is a village development committee located about Template:Convert southeast of Kapilavastu, in Kapilvastu District, in the Lumbini Zone of southern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 3,335 people living in 567 individual households.[1]
History
Modern-day Gotihawa was known as Khemavati in ancient times. According to Theravāda Buddhist tradition, Kakusandha Buddha was born in Khemavati.[2] Kakusandha Buddha is one of the ancient Buddhas whose biography is chronicled in chapter 22[2] of the Buddhavamsa, one of the books of the Pāli Canon.
The base of a Pillar of Ashoka has been discovered at Gotihawa, and it has been suggested that it is the original base of the Nigali Sagar pillar fragments, found a few miles away, which contain an inscription of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).[3]
References
- ↑ Nepal Census 2001. Digital Himalaya. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The great chronicle of Buddhas, Volume One, Part Two{{#if:Vicittasarabivamsa|, Vicittasarabivamsa}. Ti=Ni Publishing Center(1992)
- ↑ 'Aśokan' Pillars: A Reassessment of the Evidence-II: Structure. The Burlington Magazine({Template:Date).
Further reading
- Verardi, G. (1998). Excavations at Gotihawa. A Note on the Results Obtained during the First Excavation Campaign in Winter 1994-95, Ancient Nepal, pp. 180–205