Buddha's relics
According to Buddhist tradition, buddha died at Kusinara (present-kusinagar,india) which became pilgrimage center. Ananda protested the Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungle of kusinara of malla kingdom. The buddha however is said to have reminded Ananda how kusinara was a landonce ruled by a rightous wheel- turning king and the appropriate place for him to die.
The Buddha's a then asked all the attendant bhikkhus to clarify any doubts or question they had and cleared them all in a way which others could not do. They had none. According to Buddhist scriptures, he ten finally entered parinirvana. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: “All composite things (sankhara) are perishable. Strive for your own liberation with diligence”.
(in pali:‘vayadhamma sankhara appamadena sampadetha’)
His body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present.
War over Buddha's relics—
According to the pali tradition, nothing was left after the Buddha's body burned— neither“ skin, under skin, flesh, sinew, or joint-fluid” nor even ashes or soot — nothing at all except for saria(bones) , although buddhaghosa's description of them in his commentary as being like Jasmin buds, washed pearls, and nuggets of gold, and as coming in three sizes(as big as mustered seeds,broken grains of rice, and split green peas), suggests that something more generic and less osseous than bones or teeth may be meant here. If these sarira are bones, they are bones that have been transformed into something much more akin to the relic beads or “jewels” that are looked for and found still today in the cremation ashes of great masters. Moreover, the text that do go on to refer to “teeth” and other identifiable bones of the buddha are careful to distinguish those teeth from these sarira, which are treated rather differently. In any case it is these sarira(relics) and these only that are the subject of theDispute—the so called “war of the relics” among the eight kingdoms. These are—
Mallas (kushinagar)
Mallas( pava)
Magadha(Ajatasattru)
Vaishali(licchavis)
Kapilvastu(sakyas)
Bulis(Allakappa)
Koliyas(Ramagrama)
Brahmin of vethadipa
The relics were later dug up by Ashoka, and divided into 84000 portions and had stupa built over them throughout the region he rules. Many of the remains were taken to other countries. The ashokavadana narrator how Ashoka redistributed Buddha's relics across84000 stupas, with the distribution of the relics and constriction of the stupa performed by yakshas.
Division of the relics of buddha— Early accounts of the Buddha's death include the story of how his cremated remains were divided into portions distributed into local rulers. What is more telling, however, is the description of how the mallas initially sought to keep all the relics Of buddha for themselves.
When the terrible war was about to ensure, a Brahman or priest named drona intervened, sayings:“ our Buddha was a teacher of forberance. unfitting indeed is this clash of arms over the division of the Buddha's remains. May you all be united, sirs,reconciled rejoicing together we shall make eight portions; relics monuments will be widespread in all directions.”
How were buddha's relics divided?
To avoid fighting ,a Brahman Drona divided the relics into ten portion, eight from the body relics, one from the ashes of buddha's cremation pyre and one from the pot used to divide the relics, which he kept for himself. After the Buddha's parinibbana, his relics were enshrined and worshipped in stupa by royals of eight kingdoms.
Place where relics were divided
Relics of buddha—
We need to focus, however on subsequent events that mark the period in between
Buddha's death and his cremation.
During these seven days , prior to being put in the taila-droni , the Buddha's body “lies in state” and is the object of much veneration and celebration by the mallas of Kushinagar Informed of his passing, their approach the Buddha's body between sala trees, and make and traditional offerings to of garlands of flower, perfumes,music ,dance,lights etc. The seven day delay in cremation of Buddha's corpse is, in facts intimately linked to these celebration.
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| Rituals performed around Buddha's corpse. |
According to pali tradition, the mallas of kushinagar performed there rituals almost each and every day, then they realized that “it is too late to cremate the Buddha's body . we shall do so tomorrow. The next day (and the next and the next ) however, exactly the same thing happen, until a whole week passed .
On seventh day , when they actually do resolve in time to transport the Buddha's body to the cremation ground, they found they cannot lift it; that is because the god have in mind a different route for funeral procession than do the mallas, and not until the latter acquiesces to the plan of the former, are they able to move the body of buddha.
Tooth relics of buddha—
The field hitherto explored of sakyamuni's philosophy being already so wide, and the domain of buddhistic literature so extensive, it appears surprising that so interesting a subject as the tooth-relics of Gautama buddha, with his romantic wonderings and adventures, should so seldom be alluded to. It is only the ancient vansas or classical chronicles of cyclone and of the kingdoms of Malay peninsula, and books chiefly descriptive or historical of those countries that contains the tooth relics of buddha.
It is well know that while tradition and documentary evidence are by one party pressed forward in support of the statements that the so called DALADA or tooth -relics of buddha was captured and destroyed by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century A.D., it is contended by the other that it is still preserved in the maligava temple at Kandy ,as fresh as when it was first rescued by khema from the great teacher's funeral pyre in kusinagar about twenty-five centuries ago. The first tooth relics of buddha brought to ceylon from Dantapura in kalinga, in south india.
The earliest authentic records of this tooth-relics of buddha are–First the daladavansa, contracted into chronical of tooth of unknown authorship , written formerly in Elu, the ancient language of Sinhalese, about the year 310AD, and translate into pali by the priest dhammakitti thera in the thirteenth century A.D.
Second evidence is – a metrical chronicle, which literally means‘ the genealogy of great, containing the early history of the kings mahavanse, or the great dynasty of Ceylon. The first sections of this odyssey of the sinhalese, extending from 543B.C to 301A.D was complied in the reign of his nephew, the king dhatusena, between the year 499 and 477A.D.
Relics of buddha in different countries:
The scared relics of buddha have been sent to several countries that follow Buddhism for public viewing. These countries are-
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| Buddha's relics in india |
Buddha's relics in india– devnimori is a Buddhist archaeological site in Gujarat. Ashes of buddha were found in a gold bottle wrapped in ski cloth within a copper bowl that was kept in a casket. The 1700 years old casket's inscription in Brahmiscript mentions ‘Dashabala sharira Nilaya’— which stands for ‘abode of the bodily relics of lord Buddha’.
According to reports, an urn containing vase discovered in a stupa at piprahwa near Birdpur, a Buddhist sacred structure in the Basti district of utter Pradesh in india by amateur archaeologist William Clacton Pepper in 1898. Later the relics of buddha were displayed by srilanka in 1978.
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| Bone relics of buddha |
In October 2006 when global vipassana pagoda was constructed in Mumbai bone relics of buddha were enshrined in it. It is world's largest structure containing relics of buddha. The relics were originally found in the stupa at Bhattiprolu , andhra Pradesh.
Relics in Afghanistan:
About 42 Buddhist relics have been discovered in mes Aynak in Afghanistan. Some of these relics are dated back 2nd century.some Buddhist site are found in Ghazni.
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| Hair relics of buddha in thailand |
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| Bone relics of buddha |
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| Bone relics of buddha in china |
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| Buddha's relics in india |
These are the some countries where the relics of buddha are also enshrined some are original and some are believed to be original—
Relics in america
Relics in Bangladesh
Relics in Bhutan
Relics in Cambodia
Relics in China
Relics in Indonesia
Relics in Japan
Relics in Korea n Laos
Relics in Laos
Relics in magnolia
Relics in Malaysia
Relics in Myanmar
Relics in Nepal
Relics in Pakistan
Relics in Persia
Relics in Russia
Relics in Singapore
Relics in sri lanka
Relics in Thailand
Relics in tibet
Relics in Vietnam
Relics in heaven
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