An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c37.1393

v2.c37.1393

**Kuśinagara, Kasia** (26°44'; 83°55'), Dt Deoria, the capital of the Malla tribe, in the suburb (*upavartana*) of which Buddha passed away and his corporeal remains were cremated. Though the town site has not been identified, the site of Buddha’s death was one of the four principal centres of Buddhist pilgrimage. The Buddhist establishment, known as Mahāparinirvāṇa-vihāra, was clustered around the main Nirvāṇa *stūpa*, the nucleus of which could go back to Aśoka, fronted by a temple with a large figure of reclining (dying) Buddha, the figure of a devotee bearing an inscription in Gupta characters (Fleet, 1888, p. 272). The *stūpa* and the temple were cleared by A.C.L. Carlleyle in the eighties of the last century (*ASI—AR*, 18, 1883, p. 55; 22, 1885, p. 16). Excavation was resumed in 1904-5 by the ASI (*ASI—AR, 1904-5*, p. 43; *1905-6*, p. 61; *1906-7*, p. 43; *1910-1*, p. 63; *1911-12*, p. 134), when a shaft was driven through the centre of the *stūpa* which brought to light a copper-plate placed on the mouth of a relic casket [12.8] in the form of a copper vessel with charcoal, cowries, precious stones and a gold coin of Kumāragupta I. The copper-plate was engraved with the *Pratītya-samutpāda-sūtra* and ended by saying that it had been placed by a devotee in the *nirvāṇa-caitya*.