Kushinagar

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Kushinagar
Town
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Ramabhar Stupa, built over part of the Buddha's ashes on the spot where he was cremated
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CountryFile:Flag of India.svg India
StateUttar Pradesh
DistrictKushinagar
Government
 • TypeNagar Palika
 • D.M.Umesh Mishra[1]
 • A.D.MShri Devi Dayal Verma (PCS)
 • MPVijay Kumar Dubey (BJP)
Population
 (2011)[2]
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Population
 (2011)[2]
 • Total
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Language
 • OfficialHindi[3]
 • Additional officialUrdu
 • RegionalBhojpuri
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Template:Pluralize from text
274403
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Vehicle registrationUP-57
Websitekushinagar.nic.in

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Kushinagar (Pali: Script error: No such module "lang".; Sanskrit: Script error: No such module "lang".) is a town in the Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is a Buddhist pilgrimage site where Gautama Buddha is believed to have attained parinirvana.

Etymology

According to Alexander Cunningham, Kushinagara was named for the abundance of the kusha grass found in this region.[4][5]

History

Iron Age

Buddha's death

Script error: No such module "labelled list hatnote". When the Buddha reached his eightieth year, according to the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta (Sutta 16 of the Dīgha Nikāya), he and some of his disciples undertook a months-long journey from Rājagṛha, through Pāṭaliputta, Vesāli, Bhoganagara, and Pāvā, to their final destination at Kushinagar.[6] At Pāvā, Cunda, a resident, invited the group to a meal that featured a food called sūkaramaddava. Buddha was afflicted by a painful illness resembling dysentery soon after eating it.[7] After the meal, the Buddha crossed the Kakkuttha River (now called the Khanua River) and completed his journey to Kushinagar.[8]

According to the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta, the Buddha attained parinirvana shortly after his arrival in Kushinagar. Seven days after his parinirvana, the remains of the Buddha were cremated at that location. Originally his ashes were to go only to the Sakya clan, to which the Buddha belonged. Six other clans and a king demanded the ashes of the Buddha. To resolve the dispute a Brahmin named Drona divided the ashes into eight portions, distributed as follows: to Ajātasattu, king of Magadha; to the Licchavis of Vesāli; to the Sakyas of Kapilavastu; to the Bulis of Allakappa; to the Koliyas of Rāmagāma; to the brahmin of Veṭhadīpa; to the Mallas of Pāvā; and to the Malla King ( Baghochiya ) of Kushinagar.[9] In addition to these eight portions, two other relics were distributed at that time: Drona the brahmin received the vessel in which the body had been cremated, and the Moriyas of Pipphalivana received the remaining ashes of the funeral pyre.[9][10] According to Buddhaghosa, Each of these ten portions was placed in a reliquary (such as the Kanishka casket or the Bimaran casket) and buried in a tumulus.[10] These tumuli have been expanded or reconstructed over many centuries to form large stupas. Of these, the only one which remains intact is the Ramagrama stupa in Ramgram, Nepal.

19th century

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 when Alexander Cunningham performed archaeological excavations at the Matha Kuar shrine and Ramabhar stupa in 1861-1862. Cunningham was the first archaeologist to identify the ruins as being the site of the parinirvana of the Buddha.[4] Archibald Carlleyle exposed the Mahaparinirvana stupa and also discovered a 6.1 metres (20 feet) 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 under J. 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 and parinirvana of Gautama Buddha was in the region of Rampurva.[13] However, according to the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta, the Buddha made his journey to Kushinagar, where he walked into a grove of sala trees and laid himself to rest on his right side, his head resting on a cushion or relying on his right elbow, supporting his head with his hand. There, he attained parinirvana and his body was cremated after seven days. Archaeological evidence and the historical record both support the assertion that the Buddha was cremated in Kushinagar.[14][15][16][17][18]

Evidence from the 3rd century BCE suggests that Kushinagar was an ancient pilgrimage site.[19] For example, Ashoka built a stupa and placed a pillar to mark where the Buddha attained parinirvana.[20] The Hindu rulers of the Gupta Empire (fourth to seventh century CE) 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 archaeologist Alexander Cunningham rediscovered Kushinagar in the late 19th century, and his colleague Archibald 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]

20th century

After India's independence, Kushinagar remained a part of the district of Deoria. On 13 May 1994, it came into being as a new district of Uttar Pradesh.[28]

Modern Kushinagar

Demographics

According to the 2011 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%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 1,117 (5.03%) and 531 (2.39%) respectively.[2]

Government and politics

Kushinagar comes under Kushinagar Lok Sabha constituency for Indian general elections. The Member of Parliament from this constituency is Vijay Kumar Dubey of Bharatiya Janata Party who was elected in the 2019 Indian general election. As of 2025, the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Kushinagar Assembly constituency is Panchanand Pathak of Bharatiya Janata Party.

As a Buddhist pilgrimage site

Parinirvana Temple
File:Mahaparinirvan 7.jpg
Inside the Mahaparinirvana Temple
File:Ramabhar Stupa 3.jpg
Ramabhar Stupa
File:Mata Kuar M2.jpg
Buddha statue at Matha Kuar site
File:Kushinagar Museum 1.jpg
Kushinagar Museum

The statue of the reclining Buddha is inside the Parinirvana 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 attained parinirvana — 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]

Parinirvana Stupa

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 the Nidānasutta 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

Ramabhar Stupa (also called Mukutbandhan Chaitya) is the cremation place of the Buddha. The site contains a giant stupa unearthed during an archaeological dig in 1910. The complex contains several votive stupas and remains of Buddhist viharas. This site is 1.5 km east of the Parinirvana Temple on the Kushinagar-Deoria road.[29][30]

Matha Kuar Shrine

This shrine contains a 3m tall seated statue of Buddha. It is a monolithic statue carved out of blue stone of Gaya. It represents the Buddha seated under the Bodhi Tree in a pose known as bhumisparsha (Earth-touching) mudra . The inscription at the base of the 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, fronted by excavated ruins of a Buddhist vihara, complete with a central courtyard surrounded by cells. The cells served as living spaces for Buddhist monks.[29][30]

Other major places
  • Mata Bhagawati Devi Mandir: This is a Hindu temple situated at Buddha Ghat.[31]
  • Indo-Japan-Sri Lanka Temple: This is an interesting example of modern Buddhist architecture.[29]
  • Wat Thai Temple: This is a huge complex built in a typical Thai-Buddhist architectural fashion.[29]
  • Ruins and brick structures: These are located around the Parinirvana Temple and Stupa. These are the remains of various monasteries and votive stupas constructed in the ancient period.[29]
  • Several museums, meditation parks and other temples based on architecture of various Asian countries.

International relations

Kushinagar has one official sister city:

Notable people

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References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Tufail (IAS) - District Kushinagar, Government of Uttar Pradesh - India". kushinagar.nic.in. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Census of India: Kushinagar". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."52nd Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India" (PDF). nclm.nic.in. Ministry of Minority Affairs. p. 49. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  4. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cunningham, Alexander (1871). Four reports made during the years 1862-63-64-65. Vol. 1. Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India: Archaeological Survey of India. pp. 76–85.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."History". Kushinagar District. 20 November 2017.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta (DN 16), translated from the Pali by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu". Dīgha Nikāya of the Pali Canon. dhammatalks.org. 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Buddha's Last Meal". Life of the Buddha. Tullera, NSW, Australia: Buddha Dharma Education Association. 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  8. ^ D.ii.126 ff.; Ud.viii.5; the road from Pāvā to Kushinagar is mentioned several times in the mss. Vin.ii.284; D.ii.162.
  9. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Davids, T.W.R. (1901). "Asoka and the Buddha-Relics". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 397–410. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00028653. JSTOR 25208320. S2CID 163441004.
  10. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Fleet, JF (1906). "XXIV:The Tradition about the Corporeal Relics of Buddha". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland: 655–671. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00034857.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Liston, D (1837). "Notice of a Colossal Alto-Relievo, known by the name of Mata Koonr, situated near Kussia Tannah, in Pergunnah Sidowa, Eastern Division of Gorakhpur District". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 6: 477–9.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Vogel J Ph. (1950). "Some Buddhist Monasteries in Ancient India". Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 1: 27–32.
  13. ^ "A Tibetan Guide-book to the Lost Sites of the Buddha's Birth and Death", L. A. Waddell. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1896, p. 279.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.United Nations (2003). Promotion of Buddhist Tourism Circuits in Selected Asian Countries. United Nations Publications. pp. 23–24. ISBN 978-92-1-120386-8.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kevin Trainor (2004). Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide. Oxford University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-19-517398-7.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Elizabeth Lyons; Heather Peters; Chʻeng-mei Chang (1985). Buddhism: History and Diversity of a Great Tradition. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-934718-76-9.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Fred S. Kleiner (2009). Gardner's Art through the Ages: Non-Western Perspectives. Cengage. pp. 13, 31. ISBN 978-0-495-57367-8.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Huntington, John C (1986), "Sowing the Seeds of the Lotus" (PDF), Orientations, September 1986: 47, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2014
  19. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Lars Fogelin (2015). An Archaeological History of Indian Buddhism. Oxford University Press. pp. 23–24. ISBN 978-0-19-994822-2.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Akira Hirakawa; Paul Groner (1993). A History of Indian Buddhism: From Śākyamuni to Early Mahāyāna. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 101. ISBN 978-81-208-0955-0.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gina Barns (1995). "An Introduction to Buddhist Archaeology". World Archaeology. 27 (2): 166–168. doi:10.1080/00438243.1995.9980301.
  22. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Robert Stoddard (2010). "The Geography of Buddhist Pilgrimage in Asia". Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art. 178. Yale University Press: 3–4.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Richard H. Robinson; Sandra Ann Wawrytko; Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (1996). The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction. Thomson. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-534-20718-2.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mark Juergensmeyer; Wade Clark Roof (2011). Encyclopedia of Global Religion. SAGE Publications. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-4522-6656-5.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Asher, Frederick (2009). "From place to sight: locations of the Buddha´s life". Artibus Asiae. 69 (2): 244.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Himanshu Prabha Ray (2014). The Return of the Buddha: Ancient Symbols for a New Nation. Routledge. pp. 74–75, 86. ISBN 978-1-317-56006-7.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Lars Fogelin (2006). Archaeology of Early Buddhism. AltaMira Press. pp. 42–43. ISBN 978-0-7591-1444-9.
  28. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Kushinagar History". kushinagar.nic.in. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Places in Kushinagar". kushinager.nic.in. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  30. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Datta, Rangan (9 February 2024). "A trip to Kushinagar, where Buddha attained 'mahaparinirvan'". The Telegraph. My Kolkata. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  31. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."उपेक्षित है मल्लों की कुल देवी का स्थान". Dainik Jagran (in हिन्दी). Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  32. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Chaubey, Arun Kumar (16 May 2022). "India-Nepal agree to establish sister-city relations between Lumbini and Kushinagar". Zee News.

Further reading

  • A Literary History of Deoria & Kushinagar by M.A. Lari Azad (USM 1998 Ghaziabad)
  • Patil, D R (1981). Kusīnagara, New Delhi : Archaeological Survey of India.

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