Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c12.785

v1.c12.785

The identification of Kapilavatthu is not yet beyond the realm of conjecture. Hiouen Thsang³⁷ visited the city and found it like a wilderness. The Asoka inscriptions of the Lumbinī pillar and the Nigliva pillar are helpful in determining the site. Some identify the modern village of Piprāwā—famous for the vases found there—with Kapilavatthu.³⁸ Others, including Rhys Davids, say there were two cities, one ancient and the other modern, founded after Viḍūḍabha’s conquest, and the ancient one they call Tilaura Kot. But the theory of two Kapilavatthus is rejected by some scholars.³⁹