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{{Short description|Stupa in the Parasi District of Nepal}}
{{Infobox religious building
| building_name = Ramagrama stupa
|native_name = रामग्राम नगरपालिका
| image = 013 King Asoka visits Ramagrama (33428090870).jpg
| image_size = 250
|alt = Ramagrama, the relic stupa of Lord Buddha
|caption = [[Ashoka]] (right) visits the [[Ramagrama]] Stupa (center), at his failed attempt to take relics of [[the Buddha]] from the king (left)
| map_type = Nepal
| map_size = 250
| map_relief = yes
| map_caption = Location in Ramgram, Nepal
| location = {{flagicon|Nepal}} [[Ramgram, Nepal|Ramgram]], [[Parasi District]], [[Lumbini Province]], [[Nepal]]
| coordinates = {{coord|27|29|52|N|83|40|52|E|display=inline,title}}
| religious_affiliation = [[Buddhism]]
| sect = [[Theravada Buddhism]]
| architecture_type = [[Stupa]]
| architecture_style = [[Buddhist architecture|Buddhist]], [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]]
| year_completed =
| height_max =
| materials = brick and earth
| functional_status = Preserved
| administration =
|length = {{convert|50|m}}<ref name=Shrestha2001>{{cite journal|last=Shrestha|first=SS|title=Ramagrama excavation II|journal=Ancient Nepal: Journal of the Department of Archaeology|volume=148|pages=1–29|year=2001
|url=http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_148_01.pdf|access-date=2014-11-30}}</ref>
|width = {{convert|50|m}}<ref name=Shrestha2001/>
}}
{{BuddhasHolySites}}

'''Ramagrama stupa''' ({{langx|ne|रामग्राम नगरपालिका}}, also Ramgram, Rāmgrām, Rāmagrāma) is a [[stupa]] located in [[Ramgram, Nepal|Ramgram Municipality]], in the [[Parasi District]] of [[Nepal]]. This [[Buddhist pilgrimage]] site containing [[Relics associated with Buddha|relics]] of [[The Buddha|Gautama Buddha]] was constructed between the [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan]] and [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] periods, according to research by Nepal’s [[Department of Archaeology (Nepal)|Department of Archaeology]].<ref name="UNESCO843">{{cite web|author=[[UNESCO]]|year=2014|title=Ramagrama, the relic stupa of Lord Buddha|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/843/|access-date=2014-11-30|work=Tentative Lists|publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|location=Paris}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000262925 |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |author=[[Durham University]] |date=Apr 2018 |language=en |access-date=14 August 2023 |title=The Greater Lumbini Area religious and archaeological sites}}</ref>

==History==
[[Image:Ancient india.png|thumb|The Malla Mahajanapada]]
[[File:Ruwanwelisaya.jpg|200px|thumb|Ruwanwalisaya Maha Stupa in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanaka - Great Stupa of Buddhism]]
Gautama Buddha's parents were from two different [[mahajanapada|mahājanapadās]] (kingdoms) of the [[Suryavansha|Solar dynasty]] — his father ([[Śuddhodana]]) belonged to the [[Shakya]] kingdom, while his mother ([[Maya (mother of Buddha)|Maya]]) was from the [[Koliya]] kingdom. According to [[Buddhist texts]], after Buddha's [[Parinirvana|Mahaparinirvana]], his cremated remains were divided and distributed among the princes of eight of the sixteen mahājanapadās. Each of the princes constructed a stupa at or near his capital city, within which the respective portion of the ashes was enshrined.<ref name=Shrestha1999>{{cite journal|last=Shrestha|first=SS|title=Ramagrama excavation|journal=Ancient Nepal: Journal of the Department of Archaeology|volume=142|pages=1–12|year=1999|url=http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ancientnepal/pdf/ancient_nepal_142_01.pdf|access-date=2014-11-30}}</ref> These eight stupas were located at:
#[[Allakappa]], a settlement of the [[Bulī]] people. The precise location of this place is not currently known.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/am/allakappa.htm |title=Allakappa |publisher=Palikanon.com |access-date=2015-05-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/b/buli.htm |title=Bulī |publisher=Palikanon.com |access-date=2015-05-16}}</ref>
#[[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]], capital city of the [[Shakya]] kingdom<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/ka/kapilavatthu.htm |title=Kapilavatthu |publisher=Palikanon.com |access-date=2015-05-16}}</ref> (the location of this stupa is the subject of some controversy; there is evidence it was actually constructed at [[Piprahwa]])<ref name=Peppe1898>{{cite journal|last=Peppe|first=WC|title=The Piprahwa Stupa, containing relics of Buddha|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|issue=Article XXIII|pages=573–88|year=1898|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3HjaswkRsSYC&q=since+the+discovery+of+the+pillar&pg=PA927}}</ref><ref name=Srivastava1980>{{cite journal|last=Srivastava|first=KM|title=Archaeological Excavations at Piprāhwā and Ganwaria and the Identification of Kapilavastu|journal=The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies|volume=13|issue=1|pages=103–10|year=1980|url=http://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/download/8511/2418}}</ref>
#[[Kushinagar|Kusinārā]], capital city of one of the two [[Malla (tribe)|Malla]] republics<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/ku/kusinaaraa.htm |title=Kusinārā |publisher=Palikanon.com |access-date=2015-05-16}}</ref>
#[[Pava|Pāvā]], capital city of the other [[Malla (tribe)|Malla]] republics<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/pa/pava.htm |title=Pāvā |publisher=Palikanon.com |access-date=2015-05-16}}</ref>
#[[Rajgir|Rājagaha]] a major city of the [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]] kingdom<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/r/raajagaha.htm |title=Rājagaha |publisher=Palikanon.com |access-date=2015-05-16}}</ref>
#[[Parasi, Nepal|Rāmagrāma]], a major city of the [[Koliya]] kingdom (this settlement is sometimes referred to as ''Koliyanagara'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/r/ramagama.htm |title=Rāmagāma |publisher=Palikanon.com |access-date=2015-05-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/ku/koliyaa.htm |title=Koliyā |publisher=Palikanon.com |access-date=2015-05-16}}</ref>
#[[Vaishali (ancient city)|Vesāli]], capital city of the [[Vajjika League]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/vy/vesaali.htm |title=Vesāli |publisher=Palikanon.com |access-date=2015-05-16}}</ref>
#[[Vathadipa|Veṭhadīpa]], a settlement of [[Veṭhadīpaka]] Brahmins. The precise location of this place is not currently known.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/vy/vethadiipa.htm |title=Vethadīpa |publisher=Palikanon.com |access-date=2015-05-16}}</ref>

About three centuries later, Emperor [[Ashoka]] sought to remove the relics from all of these eight original stupas, with the intent to distribute them among 84,000 new stupas to be constructed in [[Maurya Empire|his kingdom]] to honor the memory of the Buddha. According to [[Mahavamsa]], when Ashoka reached the Ramagrama stupa, he encountered a powerful [[Nāga]] (mythological hybrid creature, part-human and part-snake) that was guarding the stupa, preventing him from removing the relics. his is why the Ramagrama stupa is the only undisturbed stupa of the original eight stupas.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.moksha.foundation/ramagrama-stupa |title=Ramagrama Stupa |access-date=2023-10-23}}</ref>

In the ''Mahavamsa'', [[Ashoka]] of the [[Maurya dynasty]] chooses not to retrieve Buddha relics in the possession of Nagas at Ramagrama. It was said that on his deathbed, Buddha told a [[prophecy]] that of the eight donas of his body relics, one would be venerated by the [[Koliya]]s of Ramagrama, then the relics would belong to the Nagas until being enshrined in Sri Lanka. Ashoka is told more prophecy by [[arhat]]s, who speak of the future enshrinement of these relics by king [[Dutugamunu|Dutthagamani]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Relics of the Buddha|first=John S. |last=Strong |author-link=John S. Strong |year=2007 |url=https://archive.org/details/relicsofbuddha0000stro/ |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0-691-11764-5 |pp=160–167}}</ref>

King Dutthagamini then received from the Sangha the Buddha’s relics upon his head in a casket and departed from the golden pavilion in the midst of manifold offerings and honours made by gods and ‘‘[[Brahma]]s’’. He [[circumambulate]]d the relic-chamber three times, entered to it from the east, and when laid the relic-casket on a silver couch one ‘‘koṭi’’ worth, that was arranged in the north side. An image of the Buddha was then, according to the Buddha’s determination,
created in the lion’s reclining posture (‘‘sīhaseyya’’), and all the relics were enshrined within that image. When the enshrining of the relics in the Great Stūpa Ruvanveli was completed, the two novices Uttara and Sumana closed the relic-chamber with the stone-blocks that were previously hidden to be used as a

In the Thupavamsa numerous types of beings attended the enshrinement of the relics into the Mahathupa; including the Naga king Mahakala who until recently guarded them. The relics were to be placed atop a golden throne crafted by Visvakarman the divine artificer; the throne brought by Indra. Brahma offers his invisible umbrella of sovereignty, with the king Dutthagamani offering his own. The arhat Indagutta creates a metal canopy over the universe, so that Mara will not interfere, as monks chanted the [[Sutta Pitaka]] (the Collection of Discourses delivered by the Buddha). Dutthagamani ceremoniously enters with the urn atop his head; but as he is about to place the urn on the golden throne, the relics rise into the air and form Buddha, with each of the 32 major signs and 80 lesser signs of a great man. In this form he performs the twin miracle of fire and water, fulfilling the fifth of his death bed resolutions. One hundred and twenty million gods and humans gain arhatship from this experience. The relics return to the urn and they are laid to rest and the chamber sealed with forty meter stone slabs.{{sfn|Strong|2007|page=133}}

"The relic-chamber shall not shake even by an earthquake; flowers such as [[jasmine]] that were offered on that day shall not wither till the end of Buddha Gotama’s Dispensation; the lamps that were kindled with ghee-oil shall not be extinguished; the clay that was mixed with perfume and sandalwood shall not dry; even a single scratch shall not appear within the relic-chamber; stains shall not appear in any of the golden goods that were offered.’ All this occurred by the determination-power of all Arahants present. They determined also that inimical persons should
not be able to even see the relic-chamber. Furthermore, by order of king Dutugemunu, the people of Srī Lanka enshrined, along with many other objects such as golden and silver caskets, thousand more of the Buddha's relics over the relic-chamber."<ref>https://www.srilankaview.com/ruwanweliseya.htm</ref><ref>https://ruwanweliseya.lk/</ref>

==Archaeological research==
The Ramagrama stupa has been an object of great reverence and a pilgrimage site since its original construction. The {{convert|7|m|0|adj=mid|-high}} stupa is now buried under a mound of earth and is awaiting further research.<ref name=Shrestha1999/> The dimensions of the stupa complex are 10m high and 23.5m in diameter. A geophysical survey revealed a perfect quadrangular [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] era monastery buried below the surface, whose dense concentration of brick prevented crops from growing, leading to the area being known as an "unlucky field".<ref name=":0" />

No relics have yet been found through archaeological excavations. The reason, as proposed by archaeologists and supported by sources such as the [[Mahavamsa]], [[Thupavamsa]] (the Great Chronicles of Sri Lanka), and Theravada Buddhist texts from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, is that the relics of the Ramagrama stupa were brought to Sri Lanka.{{cn}}

==Conservation and enhancement==
[https://www.tplv.com/ The Promised Land] and [https://lumbinidevtrust.gov.np/en The Lumbini Development Trust] signed a Memorandum of Understanding on October 23, 2023, dedicated to the protection, preservation, conservation, development, and management of the Ramagrama Stupa with the support from [https://www.moksha.foundation/ Moksha Foundation].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/ramagrama-stupa-sole-undisturbed-original-063500837.html |title=Ramagrama Stupa the Sole Undisturbed Original Stupa Containing Relics of Lord Buddha to be Preserved and Developed |publisher=yahoo.com |access-date=2023-10-23}}</ref> This was undertaken by Lharkyal Lama<ref>{{Cite web |title=Controversial former lawmaker Lharkyal Lama appointed vice-chairman of Lumbini Development Fund |url=https://kathmandupost.com/national/2023/08/06/controversial-former-lawmaker-lharkyal-lama-appointed-vice-chairman-of-lumbini-development-fund |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=kathmandupost.com |language=English}}</ref> who is currently the vice-chairman of the Lumbini Development Trust.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Revered Ramgram Stupa is in the spotlight again |url=https://kathmandupost.com/province-no-5/2024/01/30/revered-ramgram-stupa-is-in-the-spotlight-again |access-date=2024-02-01 |website=kathmandupost.com |language=English}}</ref>

On December 12, 2023, Ramagrama hosted a gathering for the World Peace Program. Graced by the Right Honorable [[Pushpa Kamal Dahal]] (Prachanda), the Prime Minister of Nepal, renowned architect [[Stefano Boeri]] unveiled the masterplan for the Conservation and Enhancement of the Ramagrama Stupa.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/prime-minister-of-nepal-unveils-renowned-architect-stefano-boeris-visionary-masterplan-for-ramagrama-stupa-conservation-and-enhancement-302017472.html |title=Prime Minister of Nepal Unveils Renowned Architect Stefano Boeri's Visionary Masterplan for Ramagrama Stupa Conservation and Enhancement. |publisher=PRNewswire |access-date=2023-12-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wLYX5_aGHo |title=Live From Ramgrama: Ramgrama World Peace|publisher=Bodhi TV |via=youtube.com|access-date=2023-12-13}}</ref>

==World Heritage Status==
This site was added to the [[World Heritage Site|World Heritage]] Tentative List by [[UNESCO]] on May 23, 1996 in the Cultural category.<ref name=UNESCO843/>

==Gallery==
<gallery perrow="4" widths="200px" heights="150px">
Ramgram Stupa 8.jpg|Statue and entrance gate at Ramagrama stupa, Parasri district, Nepal
Ramgram Stupa Gate Statue.jpg|Statue and entrance gate at Ramagrama stupa, Parasi district, Nepal
Ramgram Stupa Entry View2.jpg|Pathway leading to Ramagrama stupa, Parasi district, Nepal
Ramgram Stupa 12.jpg|View of Ramagrama stupa, Parasi district, Nepal
Ramgram Stupa 4.jpg|View of Ramagrama stupa, Parasi district, Nepal
Ramagrama Stupa.jpg|Sacred Bodhi tree (''[[Ficus religiosa]]'') at Ramagrama stupa, Nepal
Ramgram Stupa 15.jpg|Sacred Bodhi tree at Ramagrama stupa, Nepal
Stupa of Ramagrama - Bottom Architrave - Rear Side - East Gateway - Stupa 1 - Sanchi Hill 2013-02-21 4464.JPG|A [[Relief#Low relief or bas-relief|bas-relief]] of the Ramagrama stupa, from the east gateway of Great Stupa at [[Sanchi]], in [[Raisen District]] of the [[States and territories of India|State]] of [[Madhya Pradesh]], India
Ramagrama lintel.jpg|A bas-relief of the Ramagrama stupa, from the Catalogue of the [[Sarnath Museum|Museum of Archaeology at Sarnath]] in 1914
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Relic Stupa of Vaishali]]
*[[Relics associated with Buddha]]
*[[Relic of the tooth of the Buddha]]
*[[Ayodhya]]
*[[Dasharatha]]
*[[Ikshvaku dynasty]]
*[[Kshatriya]]
*[[List of stupas in Nepal]]
*[[Mahapadma Nanda]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373034 Ramagrama geophysical survey and preparation of risk map]
*[https://www.moksha.foundation/ramagrama-stupa Ramagrama Stupa]
*[http://www.diwasdhakal.com/book_accumulate_stupa.php The Accumulate Stupa of Ramagrama]

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSFJ9aNAnPg Ramgram Stupa, the Buddha relic stupa of Nepal]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYNgSFRZCmI Ramgram Stupa ko Behal-Nawalparsi] (video in Nepali language)
{{Buddhism topics}}
{{Gautama Buddha}}
{{Buddhist temples in Nepal}}

[[Category:Archaeological sites in Nepal]]
[[Category:Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Nepal]]
[[Category:Buddhist relics]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Parasi District]]
[[Category:Nāgas]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures in Nepal]]
[[Category:Stupas in Nepal]]

Ramagrama stupa - Revision history