Kushinagar

Kushinagar, Kusinagar or Kusinara is a
town and a Nagar Panchayat in the
Kushinagar district of the Indian state
of Uttar Pradesh located around NH-28,
and is 52 km east of Gorakhpur city. It
is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site,
where Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha
attained Parinirvana after his death.
Outside India, it is an International
Buddhist Pilgrimage Centre. The followers
of Buddhism, especially from Asian
Countries, wish to visit this place at
least once in their lifetime.

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. 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.