比普羅瓦(Piprahwa),印度鄉鎮,位於北方邦錫達特那加爾縣,以生產火山黑鹽,卡拉那瑪克(Kala Namak)而聞名。

出土的刻有銘文的舍利罐

古代相傳釋迦牟尼入滅後,火化所得舍利分至八個窣堵坡,分別奉祠,此地為其中之一。1897年,英國人佩普(William Claxton Peppé)在此地發現了古代窣堵坡遺址,並根據碑銘研究專家George Bühler對舍利罐銘文的解讀而撰寫了「發現佛陀骨灰」的報告,此後學者們對此銘文的解讀進行了持久的爭論。

大英博物館早期南亞及喜馬拉雅收藏前館長邁克爾·D·威利斯英語Michael D. Willis在2012年在書評中,稱發掘出的骨灰罐上的銘文是德國人類學家費洛英語Alois Anton Führer偽造而成[1]。歷史學家查爾斯·艾倫英語Charles Allen (writer)在他2013年的記錄片《Bones of the Buddha》和著作《What happened at Piprahwa》中,研究舉證這種偽造是不可能的[2]印度學教授Harry Falk也在記錄片中聲稱這種偽造不可能。

引用

編輯
  1. ^ Willis, Michael. Review of Aśokan Sites and Artefacts. A Source-Book with Bibliography (Monographien zur Indischen Archäologie, Kunst und Philologie, Band 18), by H. Falk. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 3rd series. 2012, 22 (No. 1, Medieval India and the Paramara Dynasty): 188 [January 2012]. JSTOR 41490381. As the question of fakes is raised by Falk himself, it is noteworthy that the author has side-stepped the Piprahwa reliquary in the India Museum, Calcutta, in all likelihood a forgery made by A. A. Führer英語Alois Anton Führer whose activities are explored elsewhere in this JRAS special issue. The decision to side-step this problem was a wise one as its inclusion would only detract from the volume as a reference work. 
  2. ^ Allen, Charles. What Happened at Piprahwa (PDF). [2018-11-05]. (原始內容存檔 (PDF)於2018-10-04).