Kushinagar | |
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Town | |
 Ramabhar Stupa was built over a portion of the Buddha's ashes on the spot where he was cremated by the ancient Malla people. | |
  Kushinagar Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh Show map of Uttar Pradesh Kushinagar Kushinagar (India) Show map of India | |
| Coordinates:26°44′28″N83°53′17″E / 26.741°N 83.888°E /26.741; 83.888 | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Uttar Pradesh |
| District | Kushinagar |
| Government | |
| • Type | Nagar Palika |
| • D.M. | Umesh Mishra[1] |
| • A.D.M | Shri Devi Dayal Verma (PCS) |
| • MP | Vijay Kumar Dubey (BJP) |
| Population (2011)[2] | |
• Total | 274,403 |
| Language | |
| • Official | Hindi[3] |
| • Additional official | Urdu |
| • Regional | Bhojpuri |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (IST) |
| Vehicle registration | UP-57 |
| Website | kushinagar |
| Pilgrimage to |
| Buddha's Holy Sites |
|---|
 |
The Four Main Sites |
Kushinagar (Pali:Kusinārā;Sanskrit:Kuśinagara) is a town in theKushinagar district inUttar Pradesh, India. Located 53 kilometres (33 miles) east ofGorakhpur onNational Highway 27, Kushinagar is an important and popularBuddhist pilgrimage site, whereGautama Buddha died and attainedparinirvana.
According toAlexander Cunningham, Kushinagara was named for the abundance of thekusha grass found in this region.[4][5]
The present Kushinagar is identified with Kusavati (in the pre-Buddha period) and Kushinara (in the post-Buddha period). It was the capital of one of the twoMalla republics. The two Malla republics comprised one of thesixteen mahajanpads (oligarchic republics) of India in the 6th century BCE. Since then, it remained an integral part of the erstwhile empires ofMaurya,Shunga,Kushana,Gupta,Harsha, andPala dynasties.[citation needed]
Whenthe Buddha reached his eightieth year, he felt that his time in this world was approaching an end. At that time, according to theMahāparinibbāṇa Sutta (Sutta 16 of theDīgha Nikāya), he and some of his disciples undertook a months-long journey that would take them fromRājagṛha, throughPāṭaliputta,Vesāli,Bhoganagara, andPāvā, to their final destination at Kushinagar.[6] It was at Pāvā thatCunda, a resident of Pāvā, invited the group to a meal that featured a food calledsukaramaddava. This would prove to be the Buddha's last meal, as he was afflicted by a painful illness resemblingdysentery soon after consuming the meal.[7] After the meal, the Buddha crossed the Kakkuttha River (now called theKhanua River) and completed his journey to Kushinagar.[8]
According to theMahāparinibbāṇa Sutta, the Buddha attainedparinirvana shortly after his arrival in Kushinagar. Seven days after hisparinirvana, theremains of the Buddha were cremated at that location. Originally his ashes were to go only to theSakya clan, to which the Buddha belonged. However, six other clans anda king demanded the ashes of the Buddha. In order to resolve this dispute, aBrahmin named Drona divided the ashes of the Buddha into eight portions. These portions were distributed as follows: toAjātasattu, king ofMagadha; to theLicchavis ofVesāli; to theSakyas ofKapilavastu; to theBulis ofAllakappa; to theKoliyas ofRāmagāma; to thebrahmin ofVeṭhadīpa; to theMallas ofPāvā; and to the Malls of Kushinagar.[9] In addition to these eight portions, two other important relics were distributed at that time: Drona (the brahmin who distributed the relics) receivedthe vessel in which the body had been cremated, and theMoriyas ofPipphalivana received the remaining ashes of the funeral pyre.[9][10] According toBuddhaghosa, Each of these ten portions was placed in areliquary (such as theKanishka casket or theBimaran casket) and buried in atumulus.[10] These tumuli have been expanded or reconstructed over many centuries to form largestupas. Of these, the only one which remains intact is theRamagrama stupa inRamgram, Nepal.
During the medieval period, Kushinagar came under the suzerainty of the Kalachuri kings. This era also witnessed the development of Indo-Islamic cultural exchanges in the broader region. This period is noted for its cultural synthesis, reflected in various aspects of art, architecture, and societal norms across India. In the 15th century, the region was ruled by the Rajput king Madan Singh.
The earliest mention of the ruins at Kushinagar in modern literature was in 1837, by D. Liston. Liston noted that it was "an object of worship" and pilgrimage site, but misunderstood the ruins to be the remnants of the fortress of a powerful divinity by the name of Mata Koonr.[11]
Kushinagar came back into prominence whenAlexander Cunningham performed archaeological excavations at Matha Kuar shrine and Ramabhar stupa in 1861-1862. Cunningham was the first archaeologist to identify the ruins as being the site of theparinirvana of the Buddha.[4]Archibald Carlleyle exposed the Mahaparinirvana stupa and also discovered a 6.1 metres (20 feet) meters long reclining Buddha statue in 1876. In 1901, a Burmese monk named Sayadaw U Chandramani applied to the English Governor of India, seeking his permission to allow pilgrims to worship the reclining Buddha image in Kushinagar. Excavations continued in the early twentieth century underJ. Ph. Vogel.[12] He conducted archaeological campaigns in 1904–1905, 1905-1906 and 1906–1907, uncovering a wealth of Buddhist materials.
In 1896,Laurence Waddell suggested that the site of the death andparinirvana of Gautama Buddha was in the region ofRampurva.[13] However, according to theMahāparinibbāṇa Sutta, the Buddha made his journey to Kushinagar, where he walked into a grove ofsala trees and laid himself to rest. There, he died and was cremated on the seventh day after his death. The accumulated body ofarchaeological evidence and thehistorical record both support the assertion that the Buddha died and was cremated in Kushinagar.[14][15][16][17][18]
Archaeological evidence from the 3rd century BCE suggests that Kushinagar was an ancient pilgrimage site.[19] For example,Ashoka built astupa and placed apillar to mark Buddha's attainedparinirvana in Kushinagar.[20] The Hindu rulers of theGupta Empire (fourth to seventh century) enlarged the stupa and constructed a temple containing a reclining Buddha statue.[21][22] This site was abandoned by Buddhist monks around 1200 CE, who fled to escape the invading Muslim army, after which the site decayed during the Islamic rule in India that followed.[23][24] British archaeologistAlexander Cunningham rediscovered Kushinagar in the late 19th century, and his colleagueArchibald Carlleyle unearthed the 1,500-year-old reclining Buddha statue.[22][25][26] The site has since then become an important pilgrimage site for Buddhists.[19][27]
Afterindependence, Kushinagar remained a part of the district ofDeoria. On 13 May 1994, it came into being as a new district ofUttar Pradesh.[28]
According to the2011 Census of India, Kushinagar had 3462 households and a total population of 22,214, of which 11,502 were males and 10,712 were females. The population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 2,897. The total number of literate people in Kushinagar was 15,150, which constituted 68.2% of the population with male literacy of 73.3% and female literacy of 62.7%. TheScheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 1,117 (5.03%) and 531 (2.39%) respectively.[2]
Kushinagar comes underKushinagar Lok Sabha constituency forIndian general elections. TheMember of Parliament from this constituency isVijay Kumar Dubey ofBharatiya Janata Party who was elected in the2019 Indian general election. As of 2019, theMember of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Kushinagar Assembly constituency isRajnikant Mani Tripathi ofBharatiya Janata Party.
Kushinagar is well connected by air, rail, and road.[citation needed] Within the town, public transport is provided by taxis,auto rickshaws, and cycle rickshaws. The city is served byKushinagar International Airport andGorakhpur Junction railway station.
The Government of Uttar Pradesh has proposed the Kushinagar-Sarnath Buddha Expressway to connect these two Buddhist pilgrimage towns. The expressway will be around 200 km long and will greatly reduce the travel time between the towns.
The statue of the reclining Buddha is inside theParinirvana Temple. The statue is 6.10 metres long and is made of a single block of red sandstone. It represents the Buddha in the position he was in when he died and attainedparinirvana — reclining on his right side with his head to the north, feet to the south, and face towards the west. It is situated on a large brick platform with stone posts at the corners.[29][30]
The Parinirvana Stupa (Nirvana Chaitya) is located just behind the Parinirvana Temple. It was excavated by Carlleyle in the year 1876. During excavations, a copper plate was found, which contained the text of theNidana Sutra and the statement that plate had been deposited in the Nirvana Chaitya by one Haribala, who also installed the reclining Buddha statue in the temple.[29]
Ramabhar Stupa (also called Mukutbandhan Chaitya) is the cremation place of Buddha. The site contains a giant stupa unearted during an archaeological dig in 1910. Apart from the giant stupa the complex contains several votif stupa and remains of Buddhist vihars. This site is 1.5 km east of the Parinirvana Temple on the Kushinagar-Deoria road.[29][30]
This shrine contains a 3 m tall seated statue of Buddha. It is amonolithic statue carved out of blue stone ofGaya. It represents the Buddha seated under theBodhi Tree in a pose known asbhumi sparsh mudra (Earth-touching attitude). The inscription at the base of statue dates to the 10th or 11th century CE. The statue was found during an archaeological dig in 1876. It was restored and enshrined in a temple-like structure in 1927. The shrine lies on the western end of the complex and in front of it is an excavated ruins in the shape of a Buddhist vihar, complete with a central courtyard surrounded by cells. The cells served as living rooms for the Buddhist students.[29][30]
Kushinagar has one officialsister city:
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