Kushinagar

Kushinagar, in eastern Uttar Pradesh, is an ancient town revered as the place where Gautama Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana (final nirvana) in the 5th century BCE. In Buddhist texts it is called Kusinara, capital of the Malla republic, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas.

According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, the Buddha, at the end of his life, travelled to Kusinara, lay down between twin sal trees and passed away; his body was cremated nearby. This spot is now marked by the Parinirvana Temple with its famous reclining Buddha statue and the Ramabhar Stupa, believed to be the cremation mound.

Kushinagar remained a flourishing Buddhist centre through the Maurya and Gupta periods, when stupas and monasteries were enlarged, but declined after the 12th–13th centuries and was eventually abandoned. The ruins were rediscovered in the 19th century by British archaeologists like Alexander Cunningham and Archibald Carlleyle, who unearthed key monuments and revived its identity as a pilgrimage site.

After Independence, the area was part of Deoria district until 13 May 1994, when Kushinagar district was created, named after this sacred town. Today Kushinagar is one of the four great Buddhist pilgrimage sites, drawing visitors from across the world.