Little Information on Remainings of the Lord Buddha

In the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, it is mentioned that the Buddha became ill suddenly after he ate a special delicacy, Sukaramaddava, literally translated as “soft pork”, which had been

prepared by his generous host, Cunda Kammaraputta. 

Quote from the Buddha

The name of the cuisine has attracted the attention of many scholars, and it has been the focus of academic research on the nature of the meal or ingredients used in the cooking of this special dish. Was it really pork that was given to the vegetarian Buddha? The sutta begins with King Ajatasattus’ plot to conquer a rival state, Vajji. The Buddha had journeyed to Vajji to enter his last rainyseason retreat. It was during this retreat that he fell ill. The symptoms of the illness were sudden, severe pain.

However, the sutta provides no description of the location and character of his pain. It mentions his illness briefly, and says that the pain was intense, and “almost killed him”.

Many historians believe that the Buddha died, not because of the food he ate, but because he already had an underlying illness that was serious and acute-and had the same symptoms of the disease that finally killed him.

Who are believed to have received the Buddha’s remains after his death?

According to Buddhist text Mahaparinibbana Sutta, the corporeal relics of Lord Buddha were shared by eight republics immediately after his cremation at Kusinara. Each of them claimed right over the relics, and the Brahmin Dona of Kusinara decided to distribute it amongst them all.

One of the Buddha relics from Srilanka

These include Ajatasattu, king of Magadha (from whom Ashoka would inherit the relics), the Licchavis of Vaishali, the Sakyas of Kapilavastu, the Bulis of Allakappa, the Koliyas of Ramagrama, the Brahmin of Vethadipa, the Mallas of Pava and the Mallas of Kushinagar.

The kings then built a stupa each over the relics they received. Two other stupas over the ashes and the urn containing it were also built.

How successful have been the efforts to find the Buddha’s remains in India?

In 1898, archaeologist William Claxton Peppe found a casket having inscriptions in the stupa at Piprahwa (in Uttar Pradesh) which indicated that the stupa contained the relics of Buddha. However, many scholars were in disagreement of this mainly because of the difference in the date of the inscription and that of the death of Buddha.

Bones of the Buddha at piprahwa stupa

In 1971, excavations of the Piprahwa stupa were led by K. M. Srivastava of the Archaeological Survey of India. Srivastava continued the investigations below the level of the Asoka period burial and found two mud brick chambers. Inside each chamber were a soapstone casket and several jars, one of which contained charred bones.

Srivastava believed, and most scholars agree, that this is the original burial of the Buddha’s remains by the Sakya families. The mortal remains of Buddha belonging to third or fourth century were found during an excavation in 1962-1963 at Devni Mori which is a Buddhist archaeological site near Shamalaji in Gujarat. 

The ashes of Lord Buddha were found in a gold bottle wrapped in silk cloth within a copper bowl that was kept in a casket. The 1,700-year old casket’s inscription in Brahmi script mentions ‘Dashabala Sharira Nilaya’ — which stands for ‘abode of the bodily relics of Lord Buddha’.

( Note: Some scholars have suggested that modern-day Piprahwa- Ganwaria (in Uttar Pradesh) was the site of the ancient city of Kapilavastu, the capital of the Shakya kingdom, where Siddhartha Gautama spent the first 29 years of his life. Others suggest that the original site of Kapilavastu is located 16 kilometres to the northwest, at Tilaurakot, in what is currently Kapilvastu District in Nepal.)

According to texts from the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century B.C., Indian emperor Ashoka ordered the construction of 84,000 stupas to house the fragments of Buddha’s remains as far as they could be transported.

According to the Deming and ancient inscriptions ,Out of the “84,000 shares” of Buddha sent by King Ashoka 1,400 years earlier, land of China received 19 of them.