Buddhas Mahaparinirvana: The world thinks that the Buddha breathed his lat in Khushinagar. Unfortunately there was never a place by that name. British historians chose that spot as the place where the Buddha died solely on the basis of the statue of a sleeping Buddha they had found. The villages name is Kasia Bazar which the British removed and renamed Khushinagar. Why Khushinagar? Huen Tsang visited Raxaul  where the Buddha died. He had problems pronouncing Indian words in Chinese so he wrote "Kiu-se-na-kie-lo" which Samuel Beal, the English translator, translated as Khushinagar. The translation was done 170 years ago when India was totally illiterate. There was no one to supply Samuel Beal with ancient Indian words. So he seems to have created his own. That was the age when the "old India hand" was the most knowledgeable in Indian affairs.  Huen Tsangs mispronounced 'Kiu-se-na-kie-lo' was deciphered as 'Khushinagar'. The British excavated a sleeping Buddha in a village called 'Kasia Bazar'. They thought Kasia Bazar was the ancient rendering of Khushinagar. So they renamed the place Khushinagar. Kasia Bazar is now a colony in that town. In reality the Buddha was fed rotten pork in a village called 'Suarkhauli' which is today called Sugauli. He got diarrhoea  and quietly died thirty five kilometers north east of Sugauli and north of Raxaul in between two Sal trees. The place today is named Sekhua Prasauni. Here is the report I gave to the archaeological survey of India.

Here is the report I gave to the Archaeological survey of India pertaining to the sites Huen Tsang visited which were connected with the Buddhas death. I have liberally quoted from Huen Tsangs book "Si-Yu-Ki, Buddhist records of the western world." This is Samuel Beals translations.

(7) Kiu-se-na-kie-lo/Birgunj-Raxaul: (Si-Yu-Ki page 31 to 41) From Lauriya Nandangarh Huen Tsang goes northwest to Kiu-sie-na-kie-lo which I have identified as the border town of Raxaul.

(a) Raxaul: I will quote page 31 second last para.“After this going north east through a great forest, along a dangerous and difficult road, where wild oxen and herds of elephants, and robbers and hunters cause incessant trouble to travelers. After leaving the forest we come to the kingdom of ‘Kiu-shi-na-kie-lo.” The wild jungle infested with wild and dangerous oxen and elephant’s with robbers, Huen Tsang describes, is the Bhaisa Loten jungle of Bettia district. Even today it is wild and lawless. The name Bhaisa Loten means wild oxen lolling in mud so the name tallies with Huen Tsangs description. It is still a highly criminalized zone and highly dangerous. Today it is part of Valmiki tiger reserve. Samuel Beal took Huen Tsangs ‘Kiu-se-na-kie-lo’ at face value and translated it as Khushinagar. Actually ‘Kiu-shie-na-kie-lo is a Chinamans attempt to pronounce Raxaul. The last two letters ‘Kie-lo’ coincide with the last three letters of Raxaul. I mean ‘x-aul.’ The ‘Kiu-shie-na’ is an attempt to write the first three letters of Raxaul (Rax) as words with similar verbal pronounciation aren’t available in the Chinese language. Finding Raxaul is a bit dicey because here Huen Tsang fails to give mileage or distance and only states the north easterly direction. So it took me three whole days to study the entire area north east of Lauriya Nandangarh and choose Raxaul as Huen Tsangs “Kiu-se-na-kie-lo.” I did this by finding names of places connected to the Buddhas nirvana and realized Huen Tsangs Kiu-shie-na-kie-lo was nothing else but Raxaul. British historians have identified Khushinagar or Kasia bazaar as ‘Kiu-shi-na-kie-lo’ simply on the basis of a sleeping Buddha statue found in a stupa. They removed the name of Kasia bazaar and re-christened the place Khushinagar. So Khushinagar is a concocted word by British historians who thought that was what Huen Tsang meant. The reader will realize Huen Tsang goes nowhere near present day Khushinagar. 

(b) In page 32 second para first line Huen Tsang states, “To the north west of the city three or four Li, crossing the ‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’river (Samuel Beal translates it as Oshitofati) river, on the western bank not far, we come to a grove of Sal Trees.” The ‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’ river is the Sirsiya Kalan river flowing down the eastern border of Birgunj town to Raxaul. In the third last line of the same para He says, “In this wood there are four trees of unusual height, which indicate the place where Tathagat died.” So we understand the Buddha died between four Sal trees. After this Huen Tsang continues to say in the last para of the same page in the third last line. “By the side of this vihara is a stupa built by Ashoka Raja: although in a ruinous state, yet it is some two hundred feet in height.” We realize that ‘O-shi-to-fa-ti’ river is the Sirsia river between Birgunj and Raxaul. And the stupa marking the spot near where the Buddha died is the Vishwa hillock in Birgunj. It suits the description Huen Tsang gives as it is next to the Gahawa Mai temple where I believe the Buddha died.Vishwa hillock is a perfect example of a big Ashokan mud stupa.

(c) Gahawa Mai temple: In page 38, fourth para, first line Huen Tsang goes on to describe, “By the side of the place where the coffin was delayed is a stupa; this is where the queen Mahamaya wept for the Buddha.” This again is the Gahawa Mai temple in central Birgunj. According to Huen Tsang when the Buddha died Anirudh went to heaven and informed Lord Buddha’s mother of the formers death. The Buddhas long time dead mother came and wept over the dead body. Gahawa means to ‘come like the wind’ and ‘Mai’ means mother in rural Bihari language. Actually my theory is Mai is the Buddhas mother’s name. Mai is a short form of ‘My-ya’ which is the formal manner in which Biharis address their mother. It seems the word My-ya travelled to foreign lands when Buddhism was exported. In these lands people mis-pronounced the word from My-ya to Maya so it came back to India as ‘Maya.’ When I was searching for the place where the Buddhas mother wept over his dead body, I was looking for the original word ‘Mai.’ Gahawa Mai means the mother that came like the wind. The name itself is inferring to a ghostly mother who came and wept over her son’s dead body. The Brahmin priest there states that it is a Durga temple. It isn’t a Durga temple as Durga worship is new and started approximately 150 years ago. Goddess Durga was a Bengali goddess prayed to by Bengalis. Prayer to Durga spread with the spreading of the railways from Calcutta to the rest of India. Gahawa Mai temple is 2000 years old and the name itself tells a story of a dead mother’s soul that came with the wind. The temple has a high plinth which means it was built on top of an Ashokan stupa.

(d) Khutwajabdi: In page 39 third para Huen Tsang writes, “To the north of the city after crossing the river, and going 300 paces or so, there is a stupa. This is the place where they burnt the body of Tathagat. The earth is now of a blackish yellow from a mixture of earth and charcoal. Who ever with true faith seeks and prays is sure to find relics of Tathagata.” This stupa is north east of Birgunj and is called Khutwajabdi. The Sirsiya river passes 700 feet to the stupas east just as Huen Tsang describes in his quote. Khutwajabdi is an Ashokan stupa and like other Ashokan stupas it is simply a low mud mound. And like most other Ashokan stupas an entire village has settled on it. But the stupas name Khutwajabdi was retained due to which the stupas name was kept alive. The village is called Khutwajabdi. The road passes over the stupa and has flattened it. I chose this spot as the place where they burnt the Buddhas body because the name Khutwajabdi fits into the tale Huen Tsang tells. According to him the body was brought here for cremation. It was tied and covered with napkins and put on a funeral pyre. Anand tries to light the fire but fails so he waits for the arrival of Kashyap. The latter requests Anand to open the napkins so that he can pay obeisance to the dead body one last time. Anand refuses as it would be tough untying the napkins and tying them again. So the Buddha forcefully takes out a feet so that Kashyap can see it. The word Khutwajabdi suits this story. Khutwa in the rural Bihari language means feet and ‘Jabdi’ means by force. In the story the Buddha showed his feet by force.

 (e) Relic dividing stupa next to Khutwajabdi: In page 40 second last para Huen Tsang writes, “By the side of the place where he showed his feet is a stupa built by Ashoka Raja. This is the place where the eight kings shared the relics. In front is built a stone pillar on which is written an account of this event.” Next to the Khutwajabdi stupa is a bigger stupa with the village settled on it. The name Khutwajabdi has overshadowed the name of the relic dividing stupa as both the stupas are adjacent to each other. The village that settled on top of these stupas thinking them to be simple mud mounds retained only one name calling itself Khutwajabdi. The relic dividing stupa has also flattened as the road passes directly over it. But the stupas hump is recognizable as an Ashokan stupa.

(f) Cowadhangar: In page 33 third para Huen Tsang writes, “By the side of the vihara and not far from it, is a stupa. This denotes the place where the Bodhisatva, when practicing a religious life, was born as a king of a flock of pheasants.” Huen Tsang tells of a forest fire that goes out of control. Animals are trapped in the fire. The bird king which is a pheasant feels sorry for them so dives into a river, flies up and flutters its wings so that the water from the wings sprays over the fire dousing a small bit. Sakra king of Devas sees the pheasant doing this so makes fun of it. The latter however continues wetting itself and spraying the fire with water from its wings. He tells Sakra that it was his job but since he, Sakra, wasn’t doing it, he was. Sakra then douses the fire with water. The stupa now has a village settled on it which has taken the name of the stupa. So you now have a stupa cum village by the name of Cowadhangar. Cowa in Bihari means crow and Dhangar means to beat the bush. Put together the word Cowadhangar means the crow that beat the bush.It fits perectly to Huen Tsangs story.

(f) Ghorasahan village: In page 34 second para Huen Tsang writes, “By the side of this, not far off, is a stupa. On this spot Boddhisattva, when practicing a religious life, being at that time a deer, saved living creatures.” In the story a forest fire rages and the animals are trapped between the fire and the river which was in spate. To save the animals the deer King lies down across the stream blocking the stream water. Strong currents break his bones but he persists and bears the pain. The animals use his body to cross the river. The last animal to cross is the hare. The stupas name is Ghorasahan. As usual a village has perched itself on the stupa and has taken the stupas name. So you now have the village of Ghorasahan. The name fits into Huen Tsangs story. Ghora means a horse and sahan means to bear a load and pain like a horse. Put together the word Ghorasahan means to bear pain like a horse. People collected the bones and raised this stupa.This also fits perfectly into Huen Tsangs story of a deer king who bore other peoples pain and load like a horse.

(g) Harpur Village: Huen Tsang writes, “To the west of this place, not far off, is a stupa. This is where Subhadra died.” Subhadra was the last person to become a disciple. He is the hare in the Ghorasahan or deer king story narrated earlier. He was the last to be converted. The latter questions the Buddha on how to become an arhat in short cut as the Buddha was dying. The Buddha gives him arahathood. Subhadra is grateful to become an Arhat but cannot bear the pain of the Buddhas death. So the same night the Buddha dies, Subhadra attains nirvana. He is the hare that is the last animal to escape over the deers broken body because he is the last disciple to attain knowledge. He is the hare. He is also the first disciple to die. To the west of Ghorasahan village is a village called Harpur. This village in satellite images looks round like a stupa. My take is it was Harpar village which later became Harpur. Har means loser and ‘par’ means ‘on top’. Harpur put together means ‘on top of a loser.’ In my studies of Huen Tsang I have noticed the village where someone attained self indicted nirvana was called a loser. In Anands case the name of the sanghramma connected to the stupa where they put his relics north of the Ganges was known as Harail or loser. Anand had attained self inflicted nirvana. Today there is a village by that name. Similarly in Raxaul, Harpur village must have previously been Harpar. This means on top of a loser. The loser is Subhadra.

(G) Sirsiya Kalan village: Huen Tsang goes on to write, “Beside the stupa of Subhadras nirvana is a stupa. This is the place where the Vajrapani (Ching-kin-kang) fell to the earth with the diamond mace.” Today the stupas name is Sirsiya Kalan. This matches Huen Tsangs Chinese mispronounciation. His mispronounced ‘Ching-kin-kang’ sounds very similar to Sirsiya Kalan. And Sirsiya Kalan is near Harpur village which proves Huen Tsang is describing a particular area with a cluster of stupas close to each other.

(h) Sato Mai temple in Nonea village near Raxaul: On page 37 last para Huen Tsang writes, “By the side where the diamond mace holders fell to the earth is a stupa. This is the place where for seven days after the Buddha died they offered religious offerings.” I have identified this spot as the Sato Mai temple in Nonea near Raxaul. Saat means seven. This is because the letter seven or ‘Sato Mai’ is used in the temples name.

(i) Sekhua Prasauni: I haven’t checked this spot. But the name and the fact that it is west of a small river states that there is a very strong possibility that the Buddha died here. The name of the village Sekhua Prasauni suggests it. Sekhua means sal trees and Prasauni means to sleep on, and in this case, to sleep on top of Sekhua or Sal trees. So this is a possible place where the Buddha died. I will put my bet on Sekhua Prasauni.

This is the link to my video in my youtube channel "Buddha Exhumed: Birgunj, the real Khushinagar where the Buddha died. Raxaul." The link     

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnlwU1fFzVs&t=113s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnlwU1fFzVs&t=130s