Kushinagar is the place where lord Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana in 483 BC . It is one of the holiest and pilgrimage place for Buddhiest . According to hindu Mithology Ramayana , Kush(Son of Rama ) build this city so the name become “Kushinagar” .This is an international Buddhist place for pilgrimage where every buddhist country have a temple . It has a dedicated place where buddha’s meterial body was burned (Rambhar stupa )and his relics were distributed among the different kingdom .
How to reach to Kushinagar ?
Kushinagar is situated in the Modern Indian state of UttarPradesh near the Gorakhpur city .
If you come by road then take bus toward toward Kasia from gorakhpur . This buses will drop you just in front of this Kushinagar Main Gate . From there you can reach to any spot . This gate just beside the national Highway .
Nearest Rail station to Kushinagar is deoria which is 27 km from Kushinagar though the bigger rail station is Gorakhpur . From this station you have to use Road transport to reach to Kushinagar
If you want to come by air then the nearest airport is Gorakhpur Which is 55 km from kushinagar . A new airport is going to build in Kasia which is just 3 km from the exact spot .
Story
I started my journey from Gorakhpur . I came here by train from Varanashi . It is one of the big cities in Uttarpradesh . From here I take a bus toward the bus station . It is like a KM distance from the railway station to Bus station . In this bus station buses are coming from the other states . Some buses are coming directly from new Delhi . From here I take a bus of UP transport to reach to Kushinagar . Road is excellent and bus will take roughly more than a hour to reach to Kushinagar . It will drop in front of the Kushinagar sacred city .From here I take a Rishkaw to reach to a BirlaDharamsala for staying as normal hotels are more expensive .
Mahaparinirvana Temple :
This is the main temple in Kushinagar . Inside the temple there is a big statue of Buddha in sleeping posture . This statue has been 6.1 m in length and a monolethic structure .It is the Parinirvana situation of Mahatma Buddha .There is a stupa just beside this temple . It is believed that buddha’s relics were stored there . Beside this place you can see numerous ruins of the Stupas and the monastery which were build in the time of Mallas , Mourya and guptas time . some of the structure was more than 2000 years old . This place have been a centre for Buddhist culture for centuries .
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Rambhar Stupa :
This is one of the most important place in Kushinagar . This brick stupa was build upon the place where buddha was cremated . In Buddhist term it is called “Makutabandhana Chaitya “. This place have been very quiet and perfect place for meditation . You can see lots of Monk Meditating around the stupa. You can also see some golden colored painted brick on this stupa. I don’t know the meaning of this thing . If you know please comment below .
Relic distribution Centtre :
After the death of Goutam Buddha , Mallas (King of Kushinagar ) wanted to kept all his relics but the news spread among other kingdoms and they also come here to get some parts of relics . The situation was such that it may create a war . So those kings decide in this place to divide it into 8 parts . On that relics 8 great stupas were build . Among them only Ramgram stupa in Nepal exist in it’s original form . This is the exact place in Kushinagar where this distribution of the relic process happened .
Matha Kuar Shrine :
Matha Kuar shrine is also another important temple in this place . This was curved out of a blue stone and it is a statue where buddha was in a sitting posture touching the earth . In Buddhism this posture is called “Bhumisparsha Mudra “.Bodhi tree giving shade to buddha . I heard from the local priest that buddha drinks last water in this place before death . In earlier time this was part of a large monastery .
Buddhist Museum :
There is a Buddhist Museum which supposed to preserve the exacavated material found here . I went there but it was closed . I did not understand which day it is closed . If it was sunday or Monday .
Burma temple :
There is also lots of other temple for each buddhist country but all are closed for outsiders for the corona crisis . Outher temple situated here are Thai temple , Japanes Temple , Tibetan Temple , Korean Temple , Sri Lanka Temple .
Gallery :
Summery :
This is the place where buddha died . It is an international Buddhist pilgrimage site. Here , every Buddhist country have a special Temple which will showcase there way of Buddhism and also their building architecture . This place have been one of the major centre for buddist learning for centuries .
