Kushinagar is an important and popular Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha died and attained parinirvana.

When the Buddha reached his eightieth year, he felt that his time in this world was approaching an end. At that time, according to the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta (Sutta 16 of the Dīgha Nikāya), he and some of his disciples undertook a months-long journey that would take them from Rājagṛha, through Pāṭaliputta, Vesāli, Bhoganagara, and Pāvā, to their final destination at Kushinagar.

The statue of the reclining Buddha is inside the Parinirvana Temple. The statue is 6.10 metres long and is made of a single block of red sandstone. It represents the Buddha in the position he was in when he died and attained parinirvana — reclining on his right side with his head to the north, feet to the south, and face towards the west. It is situated on a large brick platform with stone posts at the corners.

According to locals, Matha Kuar shrine was the place where Lord Buddha gave his last sermon before he died. Ramabhar Stupa (also called Mukutbandhan Chaitya) is the cremation place of Buddha. The site contains a giant stupa unearted during an archaeological dig in 1910.

Parinirvana Stupa

Matha Kuar Shrine

Ramabhar Buddhist Stupa