LUMBINI: The government is making final preparations to submit a nomination for a UNESCO World Heritage site recognition for Tilaurakot, the ancient capital of the Kapilvastu kingdom, in Kapilvastu district.
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, along with the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) and the Department of Archaeology, on Friday organized a discussion to brief stakeholders about the nomination process and supporting evidence. During the discussion, Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, Sudan Kirati, expressed the government’s unwavering commitment to securing global recognition for Tilaurakot. “The UNESCO World Heritage Site designation will bring global limelight to Tilaurakot – the capital of the ancient Shakya kingdom where Lord Buddha grew up. “I assure you that the government would diligently follow all prescribed procedures while filing the nomination documents,” he added.
Kirati also said the recent visit of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Lumbini has caught the global attention towards the birthplace of Lord Buddha.
LDT Vice Chairman Lharkyal Lama also pledged the full support of LDT in obtaining World Heritage Site recognition for Tilaurakot. Likewise, Sudhakar Pandeya, a member of the Lumbini Province Assembly, said that experts and scholars have dedicated 25 years to preparing for Tilaurakot’s nomination.
The provisional nomination documents have already been registered at the World Heritage Center of UNESCO. The LDT aims to submit the final nomination documents to the tourism ministry via the Department of Archaeology by November 30.
Following necessary revisions, the ministry plans to register the final nomination at the World Heritage Center by January 25. The subsequent independent evaluations by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as mandated by the World Heritage Convention, are scheduled for 2024.
According to international heritage expert Dr. Duncan Marshall, the proposal to list Tilaurakot as a World Heritage Site will be presented to the World Heritage Committee in 2025.
During the discussion, Dr Marshall and Professor Dr Robin Coningham briefed participants on the evidence supporting Tilaurakot’s claim for World Heritage Site recognition.
Along with Dr Marshall and Dr Coningham, a team of experts, including Kai Weise, Professor Yukiyo Nishimura, Dr. Mark Manuel, Kosh Prasad Acharya, Professor Dr. Rajesh Rai, Dr Inu Pradhan, Shristina Shrestha, Yani Joshi, Ram Bahadur Gurung, Gyanin Rai, and Himal Kumar Upreti, has been formed to prepare nomination documents.
A scientific archaeological excavation conducted under the leadership of Professor Robin Cunningham of Durham University, UK, since 2014 has collected substantial evidence to support Tilaurakot’s claim for World Heritage site recognition. Various structures and artifacts from around 2,400 years ago, which were confirmed by carbon dating, were recovered at different times during the excavations.
The government, through its policies and programs for the fiscal year 2021/22, announced a program to nominate Tilaurakot for World Heritage site nomination. UNESCO had included Tilaurakot in the Tentative List in 1996.
