KATHMANDU: A 1400-year-old inscription has been found in front of the Bhimsen Temple at Patan Durbar Square area in Mangalbazar while repairing drainage.

Archaeologist Prakash Darnal and calligrapher Shyam Sundar Rajbanshi confirmed that the inscription is dated 536 A.D. which will be the year 671 B.S. “536 Jeth Mase Shukla Paksha” is engraved in the stone inscription.

According to them, a Shravaka deer at the top and a Dharmachakra symbol in the middle clearly indicated that the writing is related to Buddhism.

According to the scholar of Buddhist philosophy and culture Narendra Manandhar, the inscription belongs to the time of Mahasamanta (meaning prime minister) Anshu Verma. The name of the then ruler Anshu Verma is written in Lichhavi script and Sanskrit language on the stone.

“Our initial investigation has shown that Anshu Verma kept this inscription to give information about the Buddhist monastery built by Lichhavi King Brishadev in Mangalbazar,” Rajbanshi told reporters.

Lichchhavi King Brishdev was a follower of Buddhism. He has a history of constructing Buddhist temples in different places of Kathmandu Valley. The inscription is about six feet high, but only a quarter of it is engraved with letters. The rest may have been worn out, said Rajbanshi.