Kushinagar
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Posted by Maha Thera in History section |
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Situated on pucca and road, about 30.4 km. from Deoria near present Kasia town, Kushinagar is among important Buddhist centres. Lord Buddha attained 'Nirvan' here. An ancient 'Nirvan Stupa' has been found here in excavation. Several 'Vihars' and temples of the Gupta age have also been found in excavation here. The most notable statue is that of the Buddhain reclinning posture. Presently, it is covered by a thin metal sheet. Close to it is a 10.5 ft. high statue of the Buddha dating back to mediaeval period, known as Matha Kunwar. It is carved out of black stone from Gaya. The old name of Kushinagar was Vaseya. A fair is held here on Buddha Purima.
The present Kushinagar is identified with Kushawati ( in pre- Buddha period ) and Kushinara (in Buddha period). Kushinara was the capital of Mallas which was one of the sixteen mahajanpads of the 6th Century B.C.
According to the Valmiki’s Ramayana, the Mallas was earlier part of Kosala Janpad. Kushwati capital was built by Kush, son of Lord Ram, the hero of the famous epic, ‘The Ramayan’. After Ram’s renunciation of the world Kusa left Kusavati for Ayodhya. His cousin, ChandraKetu, son of Lakshman took possession of this region. As per Buddha Pali literature, Kushawati was named prior to the king Kush. The naming of Kushwati was due to abundance of Kush grass found in this region which still holds good. Since then, it remained an integral part of the erstwhile empires of Maurya, Shunga, Kushana, Gupta and Harsha dynasties.
In medieval period, Kushinagar had passed under the suzerainty of Kultury Kings. Kushinara continued to be a living city till the 12th Century A.D. and was thereafter lost into oblivion. Padrauna is believed to be ruled over by a Rajput adventurer, Madan Singh in the 15th century A.D.
However, modern Kushinagar came into prominence in the 19th Century with archeological excavations carried out by A.Cuningham, the first 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 A.D. Ven. Chandra Swami, a Burmeses Monk, came to India in 1903 and made “Mahaparinirvana Temple” into a living shrine.
After independence, Kushinagar remained the part of district Deoria. On 13th May, 1994, it came into being as a new district of Uttar Pradesh for an all round balanced and speedy development.
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