KUSINĀRĀ

Kusinārā was the main town of a tribe of people called the Mallas. That it was a small place is clear from Ānanda's description of it as 'a wattle-and-daub town, a jungle town, a town in the woods' (D.II,145). The Buddha's final journey took him from Vesāli to Kusinārā, a distance of about 190 kilometers. He left Vesāli after the rainy season (mid-October) and arrived in Kusinārā three months later (D.II,114) which means that he would have walked an average of 2 kilometers each day. As he stopped in several places along the way, although for how long we do not know, he probably actually walked more than that. Either way, such a trip would have been tiring given the Buddha's age, the state of his health and the weather.

When the Buddha arrived on the outskirts of Kusinārā he lay down between sal trees and gave his final instructions to his disciples. We are told that the Buddha passed away during the third watch of the night (rattiyā pacchime yāma, D.II,147). In ancient India the night was divided into three watches - pattama, majjhima and pacchima - starting at sunset, finishing at sunrise and each being of equal length. This would mean that the Buddha passed away sometime between about 3 A.M. and sunrise.

For centuries Kusinārā was a centre of pilgrimage and there were two stūpas there, one marking the place where the Buddha passed away and another marking where the cremation of his body had taken place. There were several temples and monasteries there as well. After Buddhism died out in India, Kusinārā was overgrown with jungle and was only rediscovered in 1861. Excavations in the 20th century revealed numerous ruins including the two stūpas. See Doṇa, Meal and Vesākha.