Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s2.t2.2

v1.c7.s2.t2.2

The discovery of the exact site of Kapilvastu owes to the travel records of Faxian and Xuanzang. During their visit, both these Chinese travellers found the capital city and the surrounding towns destroyed, desolate and only sparsely populated for long. The whole region was divided into many small states ruled by several kings. The land was fertile and the people peaceful. They located the remains of old palatial buildings as well as about 1,000 sites of a monastery. By the time of Xuznzang's visit there were about 30 monks of the Hinyana sect living in a monastery and there were two non-Buddhist [Śaiva ?] temples. Faxian refers to remains of drawn images, erected topes and constructed marks/ *chaitya* related to the narratives of the early life of Siddharth Gautam. On the basis of these records, archaeologists have located the site at Tilaurakut in Nepal.