Gotihawa

Gotihawa गोटिहवा
Village development committee
The Gotihawa Pillar of Ashoka.
Gotihawa Location in Nepal Show map of Nepal Gotihawa Gotihawa (South Asia) Show map of South Asia
Coordinates: 27.51°N 83.03°E / 27.51; 83.03
Country	Nepal
Zone	Lumbini Zone
District	Kapilvastu District
Elevation	103 m (338 ft)
Population  (1991)
• Total	3,335
Time zone	UTC+5:45 (Nepal Time)

Gotihawa (formerly called Gutivā in Western sources) is a village development committee located about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) 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]

Fragments of Gotihawa (left) and Nigali Sagar (right).

References

1. "Nepal Census 2001". Nepal's Village Development Committees. Digital Himalaya. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
2. Vicittasarabivamsa, U (1992). "Chapter 22: Kakusandha Buddhavamsa". In Ko Lay, U; Tin Lwin, U (eds.). The great chronicle of Buddhas, Volume One, Part Two (1st ed.). Yangon, Myanmar: Ti=Ni Publishing Center. pp. 274–80.
3. Irwin, John (1974). "'Aśokan' Pillars: A Reassessment of the Evidence-II: Structure". The Burlington Magazine. 116 (861): 721. ISSN 0007-6287.

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