Kushinagar

History

Iron Age

Buddha's death

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. 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. After the meal, the Buddha crossed the Kakkuttha River (now called the Khanua River) and completed his journey to Kushinagar.

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. 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

Evidence from the 3rd century BCE suggests that Kushinagar was an ancient pilgrimage site. For example, Ashoka built a stupa and placed a pillar to mark where the Buddha attained parinirvana. The Hindu rulers of the Gupta Empire (fourth to seventh century CE) enlarged the stupa and constructed a temple containing a reclining Buddha statue. 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. 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. The site has since then become an important pilgrimage site for Buddhists.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Other major places

• Mata Bhagawati Devi Mandir: This is a Hindu temple situated at Buddha Ghat.
• Indo-Japan-Sri Lanka Temple: This is an interesting example of modern Buddhist architecture.
• Wat Thai Temple: This is a huge complex built in a typical Thai-Buddhist architectural fashion.
• 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.
• Several museums, meditation parks and other temples based on architecture of various Asian countries.

International relations

Kushinagar has one official sister city:

• Lumbini, Nepal (2022)

Notable people

• Agyeya (Sachchidananda Vatsyayan), noted Hindi writer
• Vijay Kumar Dubey, politician and Member of Parliament for Kushi Nagar
• Ram Nagina Mishra, former Member of Parliament
• Rajesh Pandey, member of 16th Lok Sabha, also served as a Member of Legislative Council in Uttar Pradesh
• Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh, former member of parliament from Indian National Congress, also served as Minister of State for Road and Transport, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas in the cabinet of former Prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh
• Mr. Baleshwar Yadav, former Lok Sabha MP