Ramagrama is the oldest intact buddha’s relic stupa in the world . It was build just after the death of buddha in 483 BC . After Buddha’s cremation in Kushinagar beside the Hirannavati river , now in Uttar pradesh , his relics were distributed along 8 parts and 8 great stupas were build . Later 7 among the eight stupa were opened by emperor Ashoka. But Nagas(kings of the Ramagram ) refuses to open it and ashoka have to come back in empty hand . This is the only original intact stupa of Buddha’s relic . This has been the pilgrimage site for the Buddhist people .
How to reach Ramagrama ?
Ramgram is near to the India nepal Border . As Indians don’t need passport or visa to reach to Nepal , it is very easy journey form indian.
RAMGRAM STUPA FROM INDIA
From India , first you have to reach to Gorokhpur city from anyplace inside India by train , Flight or by bus . Gorakhpur is situated in the indian state of Uttarpradesh. From here you have to board bus toward Sonauli boarder.(India Nepal border ) . From sonauli boarder reach to buddha chowk by auto .Now from buddha chowk in Siddharthanagar (border city in indo nepal border) , you will get buses towards parasi crossing . From here you have to change another bus , small tempo or hired car to the exact spot . From the main road also it is 2 km inside . There is almost null settlement in this place . Inside a crop field this stupa has been situated.
HOW TO REACH TO RAMGRAM STUPA
Inside the Nepal now two major airport are situated inside the Kathmandu and Pokhra city . Now a new International airport is build inside Lumbini . This new airport is just 40 km from the Ramgram stupa . From here you can directly reach to the Ramgram stupa by hiring a cab .
Otherwise from anypart of Nepal first you come to Siddharthanagar and then from there you reach to the actual spot either by hiring a car or the same procedure described earlier .
StorY:
Actually the story started from the Mahaparinirman (death of Buddha) of Buddha in 483 BC . He leaves his material body in Kushinagar , India . Which comes under Malla Dynasty at that time . Mallas wanted to kept all the relics of Buddha but the news spread inside the other kingdom and they all wanted to acquire buddha’s relics. This turned into a war-like situation. This war-like situation was described by sculpture in Sanchi , India . To avoid the situation they planned to divide the relic into 8 parts and build eight stupas in eight different places .
- Alakappa: Exact location was not known .
- Kapilavastu: Capital of Shakya Kingdom .
- Kushinara : Capital of Malla Kingdom
- Pava : Major city in Malla Kingdom
- Rajagaha : Capital of the Magadha
- Ramagram : Capital city in Koliya Kingdom
- Veshali : Capital of Vajji KIngdom
- Vethadipa : Exact Location of this place is still unknown .
After almost 300 years Emperor Ashoka planned to reopens all the stupas to rebuild lots of others stupas . When he tries to reopen the Ramagrma’s stupa the King of that place resisted and ashoka have to come back empty handed . That means after the death of the Buddha this stupa have been intacts forever . In the 5 the century chines traveller Faxian and in 7 the century Xuanzang visited this place .
There is mainly 3 spots in this area . This place has been on the tentative list in the UNESCO’s world heritage site . The spots in this area are
1 . Ramagrama stupa
2 . Unluckey Field : Beside the stupa there is a field where no farming is successful might be because of the high concentration of the brick structure . For that reason that field is named the Unluckey Field
3 .Kushan Monestery : In the backside of this stupa , there is a place just beside the river where underground monastery has been spotted .
4. Outer wall : In the front side there is an upper part of the moat you can see.
There is another fact , this place have been his mother Mayadevi’s parental home . It was a tradition at that time that , first son should be born in woman’s parental home . When Mayadevi was in journey from the Kapilavastu to Ramgram , in between Lumbini he gave birth to Buddha .
Before visiting this place I was in Kushinagar , India . Then After I reached to the Lumbini by the sonauli border . From there I reached to the Ramgram stupa . From the Main road there is a road going toward this stupa . This road have been sarrounded by the crop field . This is a peaceful walk . Then first I saw a small monument like this and then the actual stupa .
Summery:
This has been one of the most important pilgrimage site for Buddhist People . The spot have been situated inside a Paddy field .This is one of the oldest Buddist spot inside Nepal . The place have been very near to India nepal border . Coming from India is a very easy process .
