Pāvā (now

Fazilnagar Fazilnagar (also known as Pawanagar) is a community development block in the Kushinagar district of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is located along National Highway 28 (India), NH 28, about southeast of Kushinagar International Airport. ...

) was an important city of the Malla tribe of

ancient India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...

at the time of the

Haryanka dynasty The Haryanka dynasty was the third ruling dynasty of Magadha, an empire of ancient India, which succeeded the Pradyota dynasty and Barhadratha dynasty. Initially, the capital was Rajagriha. Later, it was shifted to Pataliputra, near the pres ...

Magadha Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...

. It is located about southeast of

Kushinagar Kushinagar ( Hindustani: or ; Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is a town in the Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is an important and popular Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha attained ''parinirvana''. Etym ...

in the state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

, India.

Buddhist history

When the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

reached his eightieth year, he felt that his time in this world was approaching an end. At that time, according to the ''

Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta The ''Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta'' is Sutta 16 in the ''Digha Nikaya'', a scripture belonging to the Sutta Pitaka of Theravada Buddhism. It concerns the end of Gautama Buddha's life - his parinibbana - and is the longest sutta of the Pāli Ca ...

'' ( Sutta 16 of the ''

Dīgha Nikāya The Digha Nikaya (dīghanikāya; "Collection of Long Discourses") is a Buddhist scriptures collection, the first of the five Nikāyas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of ...

''), 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 Kuśinagara. It was at Pāvā that Cunda, a resident of Pāvā, invited the group to a meal that featured a food called ''sukaramaddava''. This would prove to be the Buddha's last meal, as he was afflicted by a painful illness resembling

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

soon after consuming the meal. It was on this occasion that the ''Cunda Sutta'' ( AN 6:46) was preached. At that time, the Mallas had just completed their new meeting hall. Upon their invitation, the Buddha consecrated it by first occupying it and then preaching in it. After the Buddha had finished speaking, one of his leading disciples,

Śāriputra Śāriputra ( sa, शारिपुत्र; Tibetan: ཤཱ་རིའི་བུ་, Pali: ''Sāriputta'', lit. "the son of Śāri", born Upatiṣya, Pali: ''Upatissa'') was one of the top disciples of the Buddha. He is considered the fir ...

, recited the ''Saṅgīti Sutta'' ( DN 33) to the assembled monks. After the meal, the Buddha crossed the Kakkuttha River (now called the Khanua River) and completed his journey to Kushinagar. Soon after his arrival in Kushinagar, the Buddha attained ''

parinirvana In Buddhism, ''parinirvana'' (Sanskrit: '; Pali: ') is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occurs upon the death of someone who has attained ''nirvana'' during their lifetime. It implies a release from '' '', karma and rebirth a ...

''. After the Buddha's

cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...

, the Mallas of Pāvā claimed a share in his relics. A

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

named Drona satisfied their claim, and a

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

was erected in Pāvā over their share of the relics.

Jainist history

Besides being a center of Buddhists, Pāvā was also a center of

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current ...

. The ''Pasādika Sutta'' ( DN 29) records the Buddha at Pāvā at the time the leader of the Jains attained ''parinirvana'': "Once the Lord was staying among the Sakyans (at Pāvā) ... in the mango-grove belonging to the Vedhanna family (the Samagama). At that time the Nigantha Nātaputta (or Mahāvīra, the leader of the Jains) had just died ... And at his death the Niganthas (Jains) were split into two parties ...".D.ii.117f; M.ii.243f

References

External links

{{Buddhism topics Ancient Indian cities Buddhist sites in Uttar Pradesh Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India Former populated places in India