large Buddhist Stupa : Piprahwa ( historical British variant as Birdpore )

Piprahwa is a village near Birdpur [historical British variant as Birdpore] in the Siddharthnagar district of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Pirwaha

• Piprahwa is particularly known for its large Buddhist Stupa which is argued to be one of the eight resting places of the Buddha's ashes.
• This Stupa was discovered by William Claxton Peppe, a British colonial engineer and landowner of an estate at Piprahwa.
• In 1897, W.C. Peppe led a team of men to unearth a large mound on his land. Having cleared away scrub and jungle they set to work building a deep trench through the mound. Eventually they came to a large stone coffer which, on opening, contained several small vases containing ashes and jewels .
• On one of the vases was an inscription which was translated at the time to mean "This relic deposit of the Lord Buddha is the share of this renowned Sakya brethren, his own sister’s children and his own son;" meaning that this reliquary contained the ashes of the Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, a member of the Sakays.