Following the recent controversial statement of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli that the Hindu god, Lord Ram, was born in Nepal, the Department of Archaeology (DoA) said it would begin archaeological studies on the possibility of Lord Ram’s birth place being in Nepal.
The director general of DoA, Damodar Gautam, stated, “As a responsible body to undergo archaeological excavation, research and study about cultural and religious sites in the country, we can’t refrain from our duty, especially after the statement made by our PM.”
According to Gautam, the DoA will hold an associative knowledge sharing program which will include historians, cultural experts, religious leaders, professors and researchers. “We will then finalise on where our major excavation will be conducted,” he said.
DoA is not sure if it will begin excavation at Thori village of Bara, claimed by PM Oli as Lord Ram’s birthplace yet. The DoA in the past couple of years has undertaken many archaeological excavations on various river banks across Dhanusa, Bara and Chitwan districts.
“We have enough evidence that ancient civilization existed in those areas. But we don’t yet have any evidence suggesting that real Ayodhya as claimed by the PM existed in any of those districts,” Gautam said.
