Kushinagar

Why Kushinagar is famous

• •Three names, three eras: One source gives KUSHAVATI in the pre-Buddha period, KUSINARA in the Buddha's time, and KUSHINAGAR after. It was the capital of the MALLAS, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas of the 6th century BCE.
• •Its inscription: A 5th-century inscription at the centre states the statue was 'a gift of the monk HARIBALA to the Mahavihara and that it was fashioned by DINNA'. One source adds that it bears the 32 MARKS OF THE GREAT MAN.

History at a glance

1. 6th century BCE
   Kusinara is the capital of the Mallas, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas.
2. 487 BCE
   The Buddha, ill after forty-five years of teaching, reaches Kushinagar, ordains his last disciple, speaks his final words to the sangha and attains parinirvana. The Mallas raise a stupa over his relics and a second mound at the cremation site.
3. 3rd century BCE
   Ashoka renovates both the Parinirvana Stupa and the Ramabhar cremation mound, and builds at the site.
4. 5th century CE
   The reclining Buddha is carved from a single block of Mathura red sandstone. Its inscription names it a gift of the monk Haribala, fashioned by Dinna. Gupta rulers expand the Nirvana stupa and the site.
5. AD 637
   Xuanzang sees the colossal Nirvana Buddha at Kusinagara and documents the Ashokan renovation.
6. c. 1200 CE
   Buddhist monks abandon the site fleeing an invading army. It degrades and is eventually lost under mounds.
7. 14th century
   The temple is illustrated in the Jami' al-tawarikh.
8. 1876-77
   A.C.L. Carlleyle exposes the Mahaparinirvana stupa and discovers the reclining statue buried beneath a mound, broken into numberless fragments. It is entirely reconstructed and restored in March 1877.
9. 1901 or 1903
   The Burmese monk Sayadaw U Chandramani applies to the English Governor for permission to let pilgrims worship the reclining Buddha — making it a living place of worship again.
10. 1910
    Excavation of the main stupa reveals copper coins of Jai Gupta, a copper vessel with a copper plate, and a vessel of silver coins of Kumar Gupta.
11. 1927
    The stupa structure is last renovated before the modern rebuild.
12. 1942
    The Chandramani Free School is founded. One source says it runs to this day.
13. 1956
    The Indian Government builds the present temple for the 2,500th year of the Mahaparinirvana. The temple and stupa assume their present form.

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