| Lumbini pillar inscription | |
|---|---|
 Excavation of the pillar, and discovery of the inscription at the bottom of the pillar. | |
| Material | Polished sandstone |
| Size | Height: Width: |
| Period/culture | 3rd century BCE |
| Discovered | 27°28′11″N 83°16′32″E / 27.469650°N 83.275595°E |
| Place | Lumbini, Nepal. |
| Present location | Lumbini, Nepal. |
  Lumbini pillar  Lumbini pillar  Lumbini pillar | |
The Lumbini pillar inscription, also called the Paderia inscription, is an inscription in the ancient Brahmi script, discovered in December 1896 on a pillar of Ashoka in Lumbini, Nepal by former Chief of the Nepalese Army General Khadga Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana under the authority of Nepalese government and assisted by Alois Anton Führer.[1] Another famous inscription discovered nearby in a similar context is the Nigali-Sagar inscription. The Lumbini inscription is generally categorized among the Minor Pillar Edicts of Ashoka, although it is in the past tense and in the ordinary third person (not the royal third person), suggesting that it is not a pronouncement of Ashoka himself, but a rather later commemoration of his visit in the area.[2]
- ^ Smith, Vincent A. (1897). "The Birthplace of Gautama Buddha". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 615–621. JSTOR 25207888.
- ^ Beckwith, Christopher I. (2017). Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia. Princeton University Press. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-691-17632-1.