KATHMANDU, JULY 15 The Department of Archaeology has said it would begin archaeological studies on the possibility of Lord Ram’s birth place being in Nepal, following Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s recent statement that the Hindu god was born in the Himalayan country. Damodar Gautam, Director General at DoA said, “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.” He said the DoA would hold an interdisciplinary knowledge sharing program of historians, cultural experts, religious leaders, professors and researchers. “We will then finalise on where our major excavation will be conducted,” he said. As of now the DoA is not sure if it will begin excavation at Thori village of Bara, claimed by PM Oli as Lord Ram’s birthplace. 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. It has been learnt that the DOA officials have been conducting meetings with various ministries seeking approval to conduct the research. A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 16, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.