Type stupa Beginning date circa 483 BCE Height 6.85 m Width 50 m | Material brick and earth Completion date circa 483 BCE Length 50 m Dedicated to Gautama Buddha | |
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Location Parasi, Nawalparasi District, Lumbini Zone, Nepal | ||
Ramagrama stupa (Nepali: रामग्राम नगरपालिका, also Ramgram, Rāmgrām, Rāmagrāma) is a stupa located in Ramgram Municipality, in the Nawalparasi District of Nepal. This Buddhist pilgrimage site, which was constructed some 2500 years ago, contains relics of Gautama Buddha.
Contents
History
Gautama Buddha's parents were from two different mahājanapadās (kingdoms) of the Solar dynasty — his father (Śuddhodana) belonged to the Shakya kingdom, while his mother (Maya) was from the Koliya kingdom. According to Buddhist texts, after Buddha's Mahaparinirvana, his cremated remains were divided and distributed among the princes of eight of the sixteen mahājanapadās. Each of the princes constructed a stupa at or near his capital city, within which the respective portion of the ashes was enshrined. These eight stupas were located at:
- Allakappa, a settlement of the Bulī people. The precise location of this place is not currently known.
- Kapilavastu, capital city of the Shakya kingdom (the location of this stupa is the subject of some controversy; there is evidence it was actually constructed at Piprahwa)
- Kusinārā, capital city of the Malla kingdom
- Pāvā, a major city of the Malla kingdom
- Rājagaha a major city of the Magadha kingdom
- Rāmagrāma, a major city of the Koliya kingdom (this settlement is sometimes referred to as Koliyanagara)
- Vesāli, capital city of the Vajji kingdom
- Veṭhadīpa, a settlement of Veṭhadīpaka Brahmins. The precise location of this place is not currently known.
Some 300 years later, Emperor Ashoka opened seven of these stupas and removed the Buddha relics (his goal was to redistribute the relics into 84,000 stupas which he planned to construct throughout the Maurya Empire). According to legend, the serpent king was guarding the Ramagrama stupa, and prevented Ashoka from unearthing the relic.
Current
To this day, Ramagrama stupa remains the only intact and original stupa containing relics of Lord Buddha. The stupa has been an object of great reverence and pilgrimage site since its original construction. The 7-metre-high (23 ft) stupa is now buried under a mound of earth and is awaiting further research.
World Heritage Status
This site was added to the World Heritage Tentative List by UNESCO on May 23, 1996 in the Cultural category.