Ancient Images: Terai, Southern Nepal

Taken during November 1969 these few images represent something of the rich archaeology of southern Nepal. Two Buddhist priests from Japan and S.E.Asia are visiting Lumbini, birthplace of the Buddha to see the ancient (late 2nd cent. BCE) and more recent images of Queen Maya Devi giving birth to him from under her upraised arm. Their antiquity is attested by the pillar with an inscription of King Ashoka (late 3rd cent. BCE). A group of four photos show an as yet (in 1969) unexcavated Buddhist temple in Surkhet, the overgrown mound of which I crawled into and was frightened off by cobras there. Three other pictures show various artefacts found in village fields in the south of Nepal.