Kushinagar

Where the Buddha passed into parinirvana: the Mahaparinirvana Temple enshrines a Gupta-era reclining Buddha, Ramabhar Stupa marks his cremation site, and Buddhist temples from many countries line the main road.

Kushinagar (anciently Kusinara) lies in eastern Uttar Pradesh, India, near the borders of Bihar and Nepal. It is where the Buddha passed away and entered parinirvana, and together with Lumbini, Bodh Gaya and Sarnath it is one of the four great Buddhist pilgrimage sites. The town is very small, with its sights clustered along both sides of a single main road within about 2 km: the Mahaparinirvana Temple and Mathakuar Shrine at the western end, Ramabhar Stupa, the Buddha's cremation site, at the eastern end, and in between, Buddhist temples built by Thailand, Japan, Myanmar, Vietnam, South Korea, Tibetan Buddhists and others, plus a Buddhist museum. You can see it all on foot or by e-rickshaw in half a day to a full day. The best season is Oct–Mar, with clear, cool days; Dec–Jan brings fog in the mornings and evenings and lower temperatures, Apr–Jun is scorching, and Jul–Sep is the monsoon. The most common way to get here is by train to Gorakhpur, about 55 km away, then by bus or hired car (about 1.5 hours); Kushinagar International Airport is open but has few flights. Many visitors make this one stop on a Buddhist pilgrimage circuit: Lumbini in Nepal is about 4–5 hours north, while Vaishali, Patna and Bodh Gaya lie to the south. The town has pilgrim guesthouses run by the various national monasteries as well as mid-range hotels, and food is mostly vegetarian. When visiting temples, dress respectfully, remove your shoes before entering the halls and keep quiet.

Top sights

• Mahaparinirvana Temple – The place where the Buddha entered parinirvana. Inside, a 5th-century red sandstone reclining Buddha about 6 m long lies in front of the ni…
• Ramabhar Stupa – The site where the Buddha's body was cremated, marked by a huge brick stupa about 15 m high, roughly 1.5 km east of Mahaparinirvana Temple.
• Mathakuar Shrine – A small shrine about 400 metres southwest of the Mahaparinirvana Temple, housing a 3-metre black stone seated Buddha in the earth-touching…
• Wat Thai Kusinara Chalermraj – A Buddhist temple supported by the Thai royal family, with a Thai shrine of golden roofs and white walls and a tidy garden, making it one o…
• Indo-Japan-Sri Lanka Buddhist Centre – A temple jointly built by Japanese and Sri Lankan Buddhist groups, where a round hall houses a Buddha image cast in Japan from an eight-met…
• Linh Son Vietnamese Chinese Buddhist Temple – A Chinese-tradition Mahayana temple built by Vietnamese and Chinese Buddhist communities, whose halls and decor echo temples in China, just…
• Burmese Buddhist Temple (Chandramani Dharamshala) – One of the town's oldest modern Buddhist temples, with a prominent golden Burmese-style stupa, founded by the Burmese monk U Chandramani.
• Tibetan Buddhist Temple – A small Tibetan Buddhist temple just south of the Mahaparinirvana Temple, with a Shakyamuni statue, vividly coloured murals, prayer flags a…
• Korean Buddhist Temple – A temple built by a Korean Buddhist group, with Korean-style halls and Buddha statues, located between the Parinirvana Temple and the Thai…
• Government Buddha Museum, Kushinagar – A Buddhist museum run by the Uttar Pradesh state government, displaying Buddha statues, pottery, coins and Gandhara-style sculptures uneart…
• Gorakhnath Temple – A famous Hindu temple in Gorakhpur, the seat of the Nath sect's sage Gorakhnath, with a spacious courtyard, and the stop most often made on…

Itineraries

• In the Footsteps of the Buddha Pilgrimage – Follow the sacred path from Bodh Gaya through Rajgir, Nalanda, Vaishali, and Kushinagar, ending at Sarnath.
• Buddhist Circuit Pilgrimage (India & Nepal) – A pilgrimage loop covering Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Shravasti.