Mahaparinirvana Temple

Mahaparinirvana Temple- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 1: Indian History- Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Recently, the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, offered prayers at the Mahaprinirvana Stupa at Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, on the occasion of Buddha Purnima.

He also performed the shilanyaas ceremony for construction of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage in the Lumbini Monastic Zone.
Shri Modi also attended the 2566^thBuddha Jayanti Celebrations at International Convention Center and Meditation Hall at Lumbini along with the Prime Minister of Nepal.

About: Mahaparinirvana Temple is said to be theplace of death of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.
- Location: Mahaparinirvana Stupa is a Buddhist temple in Kushinagar, India.
Discovery: Alexander Cunningham conclusively proved that Gautama Buddha had died in the Kushinagar area.
Construction: Indian Government built the present Mahaparinirvana Temple in 1956.
- Mahaparinirvana Temple was built as part of the commemoration of the 2,500th year of the Mahaparinivana or 2500 BE (Buddhist Era).

The Mahaparinirvana statue is 6.1 m long and rests on a stone couch. The monolithic statue of Buddha is built out of a single piece of red sandstone of Chunar.

Mahaparinirvana statue shows him reclining on his right side with his face facing the west.
- It was considered the right posture for Mahaparinirvana.
There is an inscription on the platform stating that it was built by Swami Haribala, a disciple of the Buddha in 5th century AD.
- Both the temple and the vihar were a gift of a grateful disciple to his august teacher.

Attainment of Mahaparinirvana: Buddha ordained his last disciple and uttered his last words to the sangha and attained Parinirvana in 487 BCE.
- After 45 years of missionary activities, the Buddha, severely stricken with illness, finally reached to Kushinagar where he died in 487 BCE.
Buddhist Monuments:
- Maurayan Empire: In 260 BCE, Maurya king Ashoka reportedly visited Kushinagar where he built several caityas, stupas to honor the Buddha’s place of Nirvana.
- Kushan Empire: Buddhist sites in Kushinagar were steadily expanded during the Kushan empire (c. 50-241 CE)
- Gupta Age: Kushinagar witnessed a golden age during the Gupta empire(c. 320-647 CE). The Parinirvana Stupa was largely expanded and Parinirvana Temple was reconstructed along with a huge reclining Buddha statue.