Kapilvastu Municipality was established in 1982 with the name of Taulihawa Nagarpanchayat merging Baragdawa, Maalpara, Pipari, Kapilvastu Adarsh Gaau and some portion of Tilaurakot, Gotihawa and Gobari
Gaunpanchayat. Later on 7 November 2014 remaining region of
Gotihawa and
TilaurakotVDC were included making total 19 wards within this Municipality.[3]
On March 10, 2017, the
Government of Nepal restructured the local-level bodies into 753 new local level structures.[4][5]
The previous Taulihawa Municipality with
Dharampaniya,
Dohani,
Jahadi,
Nigalihawa and Sauraha
VDCs were merged to form Kapilvastu Municipality. Now total area of the municipality is 136.91 square kilometres (52.86 sq mi) and total population is 76,394. The municipality is now divided into 12
wards.
The municipality lies at an altitude of 107 metres (351 ft) above sea level[6]
History
Many historians claim
Tilaurakot located in Kapilavastu municipality (Taulihawa) to be the ancient city of
Kapilavastu. On the other hand, some other archaeologists have identified present-day
Piprahwa, India as the location for the historical site of Kapilavastu.[7][8] The 19th-century search for the historical site of Kapilavastu followed the accounts left by
Faxian and later by
Xuanzang, who were Chinese
Buddhist monks who made early pilgrimages to the site.[9][10][11][12]
Kapilavastu was an ancient city and the capital city of the
Shakya kingdom.
King
Śuddhodana and
Queen Māyā are believed to have lived at Kapilavastu, as did their son Prince Siddartha Gautama until he
left the palace at the age of 29.[13]
Historical sites
There are many sites of historical interest in or very close to Kapilavastu, including:
^Beal, Samuel (1884). Si-Yu-Ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World, by Hiuen Tsiang. 2 vols. Translated by Samuel Beal. London. 1884. Reprint: Delhi. Oriental Books Reprint Corporation. 1969.
Volume 1
^Beal, Samuel (1911). The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang. Translated from the Chinese of Shaman (monk) Hwui Li by Samuel Beal. London. 1911. Reprint Munshiram Manoharlal, New Delhi. 1973.
Internet Archive
^Li, Rongxi (translator) (1995). The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. Berkeley, California.
ISBN1-886439-02-8