Earliest Buddhist shrine found at Buddha's birthplace

by Colin Barras

Beneath a temple thought to mark the location of the Buddha's birth, archaeologists may have discovered the literal roots of the religion: an ancient tree shrine that predates all known Buddhist sites by at least 300 years. The archaeological record of Buddhism stretches back to the time of Asoka, an Indian emperor who enthusiastically embraced the religion in the third century BC. But the sage known as Buddha probably lived about three centuries earlier, meaning the religion's important early years are obscure. [Read more] ...