North India · Uttar Pradesh
Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh
Sources: wikimedia
Before you go
Where the Buddha passed into Mahaparinirvana -- one of the four holiest Buddhist sites, with its own international airport since 2021.
About Kushinagar
- Inland
Where it is
Kushinagar is a town in the district of the same name in eastern Uttar Pradesh, on the Gangetic plain about 50 km east of Gorakhpur and not far from the Bihar border.
History
Ancient Kusinara was a town of the Malla people, and it was here that the Buddha passed into parinirvana and was cremated. Ashoka marked the site with a stupa, and monks lived here until around the 12th century, after which it was forgotten until excavations in the 1860s and 1870s uncovered the stupa and a great reclining Buddha.
People
Kushinagar's people speak Bhojpuri and Hindi and farm sugarcane, rice and wheat on the surrounding plains, while monks and pilgrims from across Buddhist Asia fill its temples and monasteries. Buddha Purnima is the town's great festival.
Known for
- The Mahaparinirvana Temple and reclining Buddha
- The Ramabhar Stupa, the cremation site
- Thai, Japanese, Myanmar and other international temples
- Buddha Purnima
Did you know?
The 6 m reclining Buddha in the Mahaparinirvana Temple, carved from a single block of red sandstone, lay buried until it was excavated in 1876.
Shrines and sites
- Mahaparinirvana Temple and the reclining Buddha
- Ramabhar Stupa
- Wat Thai and other international temples
Traditions
- Buddhist
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