Kushinagar

It seems that many places in India have multiple names. Some have historical names and new names, some have alternative spellings or pronunciations of one name, and some have a name which is really words in Hindi describing the place, so they may get said in different ways. For example, Bodh Gaya is sometimes referred to as Buddha Gaya or Bodhi Gaya and I've seen it spelled as one word. Varanasi was previously known as Kasi and Benares (as in Benares Silk), and both Varanasi and Benares are still used by locals. Now, Kushinagar, where the Buddha died, was called Kusinara in the Buddha's time. That city disappeared and the town Kasia came into being at near the same spot. Later, when excavations located sites where the Buddha was cremated and ruins indicating the spot where he actually died, that became a pilgrimage site and a town grew up which is called Kushinagar. Technically, Kasia is a few kilometers away, but when looking for the right town, it gets referred to as Kusinara, Kushinagar, and Kasia. Once you figure all this out, you have some hope of actually finding the place and getting there.

Whatever you call it, I like Kushinagar. Although there are a typical collection of temples and monasteries, a regular stream of tourists and pilgrims, and a few groups of monks and lay people from outside India, overall it is fairly quiet and peaceful and the temples are much more sedate and respectful. The Ramabhan Stupa, where the Buddha was cremated, is surely profound, but it is the Mahaparinibbana Temple that really got me. There is a modest temple chamber containing a statue, about 18 feet long, of the Buddha in the lion pose, draped in a sparkling gold blanket. My first trip there, a group of Thai monks and lay people started their puja chanting homage to the Buddha. After joining them in this chant, I moved around to the back side of the temple and joined other meditators there. The Thai group moved into melodic Thai chanting that filled the chamber with a sense of profound respect. About an hour later, the group fell silent and presently I rose and made my way out of the temple. Passing two monks sitting near the door, I paid respects to them and as I moved out of the temple, I heard one of them calling softly, slowly after me, "Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!". What a great hour.

The next day at the temple my meditation was accompanied by a group of Theravada monks. Their chanting was not melodic,like the Thai group, but held that deep seriousness that goes with devout tradition and memorized discourses - monks never need hymnals, it's all part of who they are. Today I met some nice monks from Sri Lanka who are currently posted to a monastery in Singapore. The suggested I drop by and visit them on my way back to the States and that seems a nice idea.

Meanwhile, one more visit to the Mahaparinibbana Temple today and in the morning it's back to Gorakhpur and north to Lumbini. The local government tourism officer assures me it will be no problem to take a short trip into Lumbini and get back into India if I arrange things with the immigration agent before I cross the border. I think arrange means bribe. If there's a snag getting back, I guess I can always go to Kathmandu and then fly to Sri Lanka.