Tilaurakot to be enlisted in UNESCO World Heritage Site

KATHMANDU, JUNE 9: The Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) has prepared and submitted the final nomination document for enlisting Tilaurakot, Kapilvastu, in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Tilaurakot is recognized as the capital city of the ancient Shakya kingdom by many scholars. It is situated 29 kilometres west of Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha. Tilaurakot was rediscovered in 1899 by P.C. Mukherji, where Prince Siddhartha spent his early life.

UNESCO put the archaeological site Tilaurakot on the list of possible World Heritage Sites in 1996. The process to enlist the archaeological site as a World Heritage Site has been carried forward in accordance with the government’s annual policies and plans for the last and current fiscal years, according to Sanuraja Shakya, member-secretary of the LDT. Ambassador of Nepal to France, Sudheer Bhattarai, who is also Nepal’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO, handed over the nomination document to the representative of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites last year.

A team from UNESCO is arriving in Nepal in August for an on-site study of the strategic nomination document, the LDT said. Member-Secretary Shakya expressed confidence that Tilaurakot would be enlisted as a World Heritage Site by November.

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