Kapilavastu Museum is a cultural and religious museum in Tilaurakot, Nepal. Kapilavastu is the ancient city of the Sakyas, Sakyamuni Buddha son of Suddhodhan. There are more than 136 archaeological sites in the territory of ancient Kapilavastu. Tilaurākoṭ, Niglihawa, Gotihawa, Arorakot, Sisahaniyakot, Chhetradehi, Sagrahawa, and Pipari, etc. are enriched with ancient art remains and monuments that are discovered. Archaeological findings of Tilaurākoṭ and of other sites are kept in the Kapilavastu Museum.
The museum is operated under the Department of Archaeology of the Nepāl Government. This museum was established in 1962 located on the right bank of the Banaganga River and the western site of Tilaurākoṭ mound. The catalog of displayed objects includes terracotta human figurines, animal figurines, birds, seal and sealing, beads, bangles, dabber, flesh rubber, coins, musical instruments, and Chalcolithic objects of Mustang Chhokhopani cave. Copper rings, weapons, painted grey ware pieces, conch and bone balls, teeth of hair, shoulder bone, finger bone, and leg bone are also displayed here.
Pottery
Pottery from the excavated and explored–sites help researchers understand the basic cultural components of the various periods of human occupation. In the course of excavation at Tilaurākoṭ, Bañjarāhī, Lumbinī, Rāmagrāma, and Paisiā, excavators discovered clear-cut sequences of cultures beginning from painted grey ware phase to the period of Imperial Guptas. Some of the ancient mounds yielded fragments of P.G. ware, N.B.P. ware, and Red ware from the surface. Vedmau is specially enriched with fragments of painted grey ware, which is called a Vedic site by the local people. The ceramic tradition of this region is similar to the one at Hastināpur from period II to IV. Thus, the archaeologists rightly compared the chronology and ceramic tradition of the area with that of Hastināpur. The most characteristic shape in greyware is a dish with convex sides and beaked edges. The pottery is thick in section having horizontal and vertical bands. The clay used was well-levigated. A metallic sound is produced by the fragments of greyware when struck. Northern black polished ware is thin and perfect in treatment. The clay used is not so well levigated and well-baked as in the case of greyware. It carries black and silver shades. These two phases are comparable to the periods II and III of Hastināpur, dated there in c.11-8th and c.6th-5th centuries BC respectively.
The red–slipped ware is abundant in quantity in the trenches as well as on the surface of the ancient mounds. Dishes, bowls, and basins are representative types of this ceramic tradition as well. Redware pottery and terracotta seals with Brāhmi scripts were found in the same layers. The quality of clay is very fine and is also well-fired.
Painted Grey Ware The P.G. ware is thicker in section and decorated with horizontal or vertical bands, criss-cross bands, and irregular dots over the grey surface with black pigments. Some of them are plain having shining on the surface.
Northern Black Polished Ware
North black polished ware was popular throughout the western Terai region of Nepāl succeeding the painted Grey ware. The treatment and finish of the ware looks perfect. The surface is usually coal-black and rarely steel-grey or silvery. In some cases, it has golden-brown patches. The core is either grey or reddish. The part immediately below the surface is generally dull red. NBP ware fragments are thin and well-baked and are made of good-quality clay. This region is completely dominated by the N.B.P ware, rather than the black polished ware, as is seen in the eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh in India. Fragments of black-polished ware are thinner in section and are not as perfect in treatment as NBP ware. Fragments of this ware are similar to that of the pottery of period III at Hastināpur. It is datable in c.6th-5th centuries B.C. Dishes, bowls, saucers, small basins, lids with tapering sides, small vases with different types of rims, and carinated handis are the representative types of this ceramic. There are deep or shallow bowls with convex, receding, or progressively widening sides, small basins with receding sides, lids with tapering sides, some with a projection for flanged vessels, and small vases with different types of rims.
Red ware
This type of ceramic is usually associated with the Mauryan Period. Some of the fragments in redware are painted in circular lines. In some cases, the black portion is so well merged with the red that it is difficult to find out the main feature. Mainly bowls, basins, and vases are reported. However, these shapes are not peculiar to this type alone. It is usually of medium fabric with some red slip on it. It is found at Bañjarāhī, Tilaurākoṭ, and Goṭihawā during excavations. From period I A at Bañjarāhī, smooth and heavy red wares with black wash, and heavy unslipped redware with coarse redware are reported to be common. Smooth and heavy red ware with black wash is wheel–turned and is not well-fired. It has several shapes, viz. lid, bowls, shallow plate, pot with an elongated body, basins, and convex-sided pots. Rimless bowls have either straight or slightly convex sides and a pointed edge. A single fragment of the small bowl is thick-sided with a beveled-in edge. Dishes are convex-sided with a slightly clubbed-out edge or pointed edge. Basins also have beaked-in edges. Heavy red ware with unslipped and roughened surface has a gritty core. All shapes are mostly utilitarian, viz. pots with high and straight or flared mouths and globular pots. Vessels representing coarse redware type were meant for everyday use, viz. pots with constricted necks and basins.
Red-slipped ware
Red-slipped ware represents identical types in several shapes. The simultaneous use of this ware and grey ware copiously for utensils of daily use in hundreds of contemporaneous sites of Northern India and the western Terai region of Nepāl suggest that both were manufactured in the immediate vicinity of the sites. These wares represent the particular significance of their utility as well as their social significance in contemporary society. This ware is reported from various mounds in the region. Stratified specimens are reported from Bañjarāhī and Tilaurākoṭ. From period I A at Bañjarāhī the red-slipped ware has a red core with a bright red slip on it. It is made of purer clay. There is a fragment of a high-necked pot with flared ends. The other fragment of a basin with a red wash on its surface and convex sides and a beaded out rim is also reported from this site.
Late Grey Ware
The ceramic industry of late greyware is distinguished by the mode of its firing. It has a medium-thick section like the one from period III. It is particularly characteristic of pottery in period IV of Hastināpur, where it is called late grey ware. The red and grey wares were manufactured in contemporaneous sites of Northern India and Nepālese Terai. Its core is generally ashy-grey and rarely blackish-grey. Most of the vessels were treated with a slip both internally and externally. The colour was either grey with shades varying from medium to dark grey or black. Some of the sherds bear bands, dots, and strokes in black. Dishes, bowls, and dining–plates are representative types of this ceramic. Bowls in this ware are as frequent as in the red ware and represent a wide variety of types. Mitra has recorded various types of this ware from Tilaurākoṭ. According to her these indifferently-painted pots found in association with the Northern Black Polished Ware cannot be assigned to a distinctly pre-NBP ware Phase. One has to carefully examine to determine the original colour of her findings because other excavators have discovered painted grey ware in the course of excavation at the same mound, assignable to period II at Hastināpur.
Chocolate-slipped Ware
The slip on the chocolate-slipped ware is of a better standard than the red-slipped ware. First of all this ware was discovered from period II at Bañjarāhī. It shows a reddish core with degraissant in the form of pieces of hay and fine sand. The original surface was brown-red on which chocolate slip was coated. Fragment of a vessel with a flared mouth internally carinated has also been found at the former site. It has a beaked edge
Black-slipped Ware
Being black-slipped or black-polished its polish and shine are not of perfect quality like that of the Northern black polished ware. Its colour seems to be greyish and not deep black. Dishes and bowls are representative types of this ceramic. Layers 1–4 at Tilaurākoṭ yielded mainly red wares and black-slipped grey ware of a coarse variety. Period IV of this site is related to the Suṅga and the first phase of the Kushāṇa periods. Period V, consisting of Layers 1–3, has also mainly yielded red ware and black-slipped grey ware of a coarse variety at Tilaurākoṭ.
Mauryan Figurines
A number of Mauryan figurines have been reported from Tilaurākoṭ. They are quite large and are characterised by smooth and sensitive modelling though only the face was moulded and the rest of the body was hand-made. Decorations were done with suitable clay bands made separately and added later over the body. Sometimes wooden pins have been used to decorate the body. The figurines have big eyes, a prominent nose, a slit mouth, and incised lines to mark hair. They are either red or smoky colours and are made of fine levigated clay. The ears are separately made with a heavy lump of clay shaped like ears with a pendent and applied over it. The left one is missing. The roundish face is worn out, however, it carries a dignified expression. There are big circular earrings and a flat band of a necklace. It belongs to the third century B.C. Such figures from North India are dated in the pre-Mauryan period by Coomarswamy, Zimmer,, and Rowland. The other handsome figure from Tilaurākoṭ also represents the bust of a female. The face is ovalish and a bicornate headdress up to the shoulder is shown on it. The figure wears heavy earrings and a triple flat band necklace, and, the nose, eyes, mouth, and nostrils are indicated by incised lines and punctures. Rijal dates these two figurines pre-Mauryan period. However, the style and technique of the figure undoubtedly place it in the Mauryan period. The latter figurine is illustrated in the text published by Rissho University Japan.
Suṅga Figurines