Kushinagar: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Town}}

| leader_name1                    = S. Rajalingam<ref>{{cite web |title=S. Rajalingam (IAS) - District Kushinagar, Government of Uttar Pradesh - India |url=https://kushinagar.nic.in/whoswho/name-of-the-official-8/ |website=kushinagar.nic.in |access-date=5 March 2021}}</ref>

| leader_name2                    = Bindhvasani Rai

| demographics1_info1            = [[Hindi language|Hindi]]<ref name="langoff">{{cite web|title=52nd Report of the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities in India|url=http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM52ndReport.pdf|website=nclm.nic.in|publisher=[[Ministry of Minority Affairs]]|access-date=10 February 2019 |page=49|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525141614/http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM52ndReport.pdf|archive-date=25 May 2017}}</ref>

| demographics1_title2            = Additional&nbsp;official

| demographics1_info2            = [[Urdu]]<ref name="langoff"/>

{{BuddhasHolySites}}

'''Kushinagar''' is a town in the [[Kushinagar district]] of the Indian [[States and territories of India|state]] of [[Uttar Pradesh]]. It is an important [[Buddhist]] pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe [[Gautama Buddha]] attained [[Mahaparinirvana]] after his death. It is an international Buddhist pilgrimage centre.

According to one theory, Kushinagar was the capital of [[Kosala Kingdom]] and according to [[Ramayana]] it was built by [[Kusha (Ramayana)|King Kush]], son of [[Rama]], protagonist of the epic Ramayana. While according to Buddhist tradition ''Kushavati'' was named prior to the king Kush. The naming of Kushwati is believed to be due to abundance of [[Desmostachya bipinnata|Kush grass]] found in this region.<ref name=Kushi>{{cite web |url=https://kushinagar.nic.in/history/|title=History |publisher=Kushinagar District |date=20 November 2017}}</ref>

==Demographics==

According to [[2011 Indian Census]], Kushinagar had a total population of 22,214, of which 11,502 were males and 10,712 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 2,897. The total number of literates in Kushinagar was 15,150, which constituted 68.2% of the population with male literacy of 73.3% and female literacy of 62.7%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Kushinagar was 78.4%, of which male literacy rate was 84.5% and female literacy rate was 71.9%. The [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes]] population was 1,117 (5.03%) and 531 (2.39%) respectively. Kushinagar had 3462 households in 2011.<ref name="Census2011Gov">{{cite web |title=Census of India: Kushinagar |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/pca/SearchDetails.aspx?Id=216153 |website=www.censusindia.gov.in |access-date=29 December 2019}}</ref>

The present Kushinagar is identified with Kusavati (in the pre-Buddha period) and Kushinara (in the post-Buddha period). Kushinara was the capital of [[Malla (India)|Mallas]] which was one of the [[Mahajanapadas|sixteen mahajanpads]] of the 6th century BCE. Since then, it remained an integral part of the erstwhile empires of [[Maurya]], [[Śuṅga Empire|Shunga]], [[Kushana]], [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]], [[Harsha]], and [[Pala Empire|Pala]] dynasties.

In the medieval period, Kushinagar had passed under the suzerainty of Kultury Kings. Kushinara continued to be a living city till the 12th century CE and was thereafter lost into oblivion. Padrauna is believed to be ruled over by a Rajput adventurer, Madan Singh, in the 15th century CE.

[[File:Conjectural reconstruction of the main gate of Kusinagara circa 500 BCE adapted from a relief at Sanchi.jpg|thumb|left|Conjectural reconstruction of the main gate of Kusinagara circa 500 BCE adapted from [[:File:City of Kusinagara in the War over the Buddha's Relics, South Gate, Stupa no. 1, Sanchi.jpg|this]] relief at [[Sanchi]]]]

However, modern Kushinagar came into prominence in the 19th century with archaeological excavations carried out by [[Alexander Cunningham]], the first [[Archaeological Survey of India|Archeological Surveyor of India]] and later followed by C.L. Carlleyle who exposed the main stupa and also discovered a 6.10 meters long statue of reclining Buddha in 1876. Excavations continued in the early twentieth century under [[J. Ph. Vogel]].<ref>{{cite journal | author = Vogel J Ph. | year = 1950 | title = Some Buddhist Monasteries in Ancient India | journal = Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society | volume = 1 | pages = 27–32 }}</ref> He conducted archaeological campaigns in 1904–1905, 1905-1906 and 1906–1907, uncovering a wealth of Buddhist materials.

Chandra Swami, a Burmese monk, came to India in 1903 and made Mahaparinirvana Temple into a living shrine.

After independence, Kushinagar remained part of the district of [[Deoria district|Deoria]]. On 13 May 1994, it came into being as a new district of [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref name=Kushihistory>{{cite web|title=Kushinagar History|url=http://kushinagar.nic.in/history.htm|website=kushinagar.nic.in|access-date=18 July 2015}}</ref>

==Location of Gautama Buddha's death and parinirvana==

In 1896, Waddell suggested that the site of the death and [[parinirvana]] of Gautama Buddha was in the region of [[Rampurva]].<ref>"A Tibetan Guide-book to the Lost Sites of the Buddha's Birth and Death", [[L. A. Waddell]]. [[Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal]], 1896, p. 279.</ref> However, according to the ''[[Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra]]'', the Buddha made his journey to Kushinagar, died there, and this is where he was cremated.<ref name=fogelin2015p23/><ref>{{cite journal|author=John Guy| title=The Mahabodhi temple|journal=The Burlington Magazine| year=1991| volume=133| number=1059|jstor=884751| pages=356–357}}</ref> It is believed that during his last day he walked into the groves of trees near the city and rejoiced at the blossoms of sala trees ([[Shorea robusta]]) before laying himself to rest.<ref>{{cite book|title=Buddh for the young|last=S.|first=Bhattacharya|isbn=81-237-2006-8|publisher=National Book Trust, India|edition=1st|year=1996|location=New Delhi|page=42}}</ref>

Modern scholarship, based on archaeological evidence, believes that the Buddha died in Kushinagar, close to the modern Kasia (Uttar Pradesh).<ref>{{cite book|author=United Nations|title=Promotion of Buddhist Tourism Circuits in Selected Asian Countries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9ZhFMWSYKsC&pg=PA23|year=2003|publisher=United Nations Publications|isbn=978-92-1-120386-8|pages=23–24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Kevin Trainor |title=Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PrloTKuAjwC |year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517398-7 |pages=41 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Elizabeth Lyons|author2=Heather Peters|author3=Chʻeng-mei Chang|title=Buddhism: History and Diversity of a Great Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hkdxmAYVbJUC&pg=PA17|year=1985|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology|isbn=978-0-934718-76-9|page=17}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Fred S. Kleiner |title=Gardner's Art through the Ages: Non-Western Perspectives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TlVeuxIgjwQC |year=2009|publisher=Cengage |isbn=978-0-495-57367-8 |pages=13, 31 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last = Huntington |first = John C |title = Sowing the Seeds of the Lotus |journal = Orientations |date=1986 |volume= September 1986 |pages = 47 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141128233735/http://huntingtonarchive.osu.edu/resources/downloads/jchArticles/Part%205.pdf | archive-date = 28 November 2014 |url = http://huntingtonarchive.osu.edu/resources/downloads/jchArticles/Part%205.pdf }}</ref>

Ashoka built a stupa and pilgrimage site to mark Buddha's parinirvana in Kushinagara.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Akira Hirakawa |author2=Paul Groner |title=A History of Indian Buddhism: From Śākyamuni to Early Mahāyāna |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XjjwjC7rcOYC |year=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0955-0 |pages=101 }}</ref> The Hindu rulers of the [[Gupta Empire]] (fourth to seventh century) helped greatly enlarge the Nirvana stupa and Kushinagar site, building a temple with reclining Buddha.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Gina Barns|title=An Introduction to Buddhist Archaeology|journal=World Archaeology|volume = 27| number = 2|year=1995|pages=166–168|doi=10.1080/00438243.1995.9980301}}</ref><ref name=stoddardp3>{{cite journal|author=Robert Stoddard|year=2010 |journal= Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art |title=  The Geography of Buddhist Pilgrimage in Asia |publisher= Yale University Press |url= http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geographyfacpub/27| volume = 178|pages=3–4}}</ref> This site was abandoned by Buddhist monks around 1200 CE, who fled to escape the invading Muslim army, after which the site decayed during the Islamic rule in India that followed.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Richard H. Robinson|author2=Sandra Ann Wawrytko |author3=Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu |title=The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LhUSAQAAIAAJ | year=1996| publisher=Thomson |isbn=978-0-534-20718-2 |pages=50 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Mark Juergensmeyer|author2=Wade Clark Roof|title=Encyclopedia of Global Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WwJzAwAAQBAJ|year=2011|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-6656-5|page=148}}</ref> The British archaeologist [[Alexander Cunningham]] rediscovered Kushinagara in the late 19th century, and his colleague [[A.C.L. Carlleyle|A. C. L. Carlleyle]] unearthed the 1,500-year-old Buddha image.<ref name=stoddardp3/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Asher|first1=Frederick|title=From place to sight: locations of the Buddha´s life|journal=Artibus Asiae|date=2009|volume=69|issue=2|page=244}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Himanshu Prabha Ray|title=The Return of the Buddha: Ancient Symbols for a New Nation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l3s9BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA74|year=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-56006-7|pages=74–75, 86}}</ref> The site has since then become an important pilgrimage site for Buddhists.<ref name=fogelin2015p23>{{cite book|author=Lars Fogelin|title=An Archaeological History of Indian Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tRV0BgAAQBAJ |year=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-994822-2|pages=23–24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Lars Fogelin|title=Archaeology of Early Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3WAnAAAAQBAJ |year=2006|publisher=AltaMira Press|isbn=978-0-7591-1444-9|pages=42–43}}</ref> Archaeological evidence from the 3rd century BCE suggests that the Kushinagara site was an ancient pilgrimage site.<ref name=fogelin2015p23/>

==Geography==

Kushinagar is a [[nagar palika]] situated at 53&nbsp;km east from [[Gorakhpur]] on the National Highway-28, lying between latitude 26°45´N and 83°24´E. Gorakhpur is the main [[railway terminus]] for Kushinagar while air strip of UP Civil Aviation is situated in Kasia, 2&nbsp;km away from Kushinagar, currently being developed as an [[International Airport]] by [[Uttar Pradesh Government]] and [[Government of India]].<ref name=kushigeo>{{cite web|title=Kushinagar geography|url=http://kushinagar.nic.in/geog1.htm|website=kushinagr.nic.in|access-date=18 July 2015}}</ref>

[[File:058 Parinirvana Temple from Front, Kusinara (9239688442).jpg|thumb|250px|The Parinirvana Temple with the [[Parinirvana Stupa]], Kushinagar]]

 

;Nirvana Chaitya (Main Stupa)

Nirvana Chaitya is located just behind the Main Parinirvana Temple. It was excavated by Carlleyle in the year 1876. During excavations, a copper plate was found, which contained the text of the "Nidana-Sutra" which concluded the statement that plate had been deposited in the Nirvana-Chaitya by one Haribala, who also installed the great Nirvana Statue of Buddha in the temple front.<ref name=kushiplaces/>

Ramabhar Stupa, also called a Mukutbandhan-Chaitya, is the cremation place of Buddha. This site is 1.5&nbsp;km east of the main Nirvana Temple on the Kushinagar-Deoria road.<ref name=kushiplaces/>

A colossal statue of Buddha is installed, which is carved out of one block which represents Buddha seated under the "Bodhi Tree" in a pose known as "Bhumi Sparsh Mudra" (Earth touching attitude). The inscription at the base of statue is dateable to the 10th or 11th century CE.<ref name=kushiplaces/>

*Indo-Japan-Sri Lanka Temple: Indo-Japan-Sri Lanka temple is a marvel of Buddhist architectural grandeur of modern times.<ref name=kushiplaces/>

*Wat Thai Temple: It is a huge complex built in a typical Thai-Buddhist architectural fashion.<ref name=kushiplaces/>

*Ruins and brick structures: These are located around the main Nirvana Temple and Main Stupa. These are the remains of various monasteries of different sizes constructed from time to time in the ancient period.<ref name=kushiplaces/>

*Several museums, meditation parks and several other temples based on architecture of various eastern countries.

The [[Government of Uttar Pradesh]] has proposed the Kushinagar-[[Sarnath]] Buddha Expressway to connect Buddhist pilgrimage towns. The expressway will be around 200&nbsp;km long and will reduce the travel time between the towns from seven hours to one and a half hours.

==Government and politics==

Kushinagar comes under [[Kushi Nagar (Lok Sabha constituency)|Kushinagar Lok Sabha constituency]] for [[Elections in India|Indian general elections]]. The [[List of members of the 16th Lok Sabha|Member of Parliament]] from this constituency is [[Vijay Kumar Dubey]] of [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] [[2014 Indian general elections]] who was re-elected in the [[2019 Indian general election]].

 

As of 2019, the [[Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly|Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA)]] from Kushinagar Assembly constituency is [[Rajnikant Mani Tripathi]] of [[Bharatiya Janata Party]].

 

*[[Dharikshan Mishr]], Bhojpuri poet

*[[Sachchidananda Vatsyayan]] 'Agyeya', noted [[Hindi]] writer

*[[Vijay Kumar Dubey]], politician and Member of Parliament for Kushi Nagar

*[[Manya Singh]], Indian model and beauty pageant title holder

* [[R. P. N. Singh]], former member of parliament from Indian National Congress, also served as [[Ministry of Road Transport and Highways|Minister of State for Road and Transport]], Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas in the cabinet of former Prime minister, [[Dr. Manmohan Singh]]

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