Kesaria, also known as Kesariya is a town in the district of East Champaran, in the Indian state of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. It is the site of a

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

built by the

Mauryan The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sourc ...

king

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

Geography

Kesaria is near the River Gandak and Rampur Khajuria. The nearest villages are Noori Mohalla Trilokwa & Trilokwa (3.5 km), Kushar Saikh Toli (4 km), Phultakiya (3 km), Baisakhawa (2 km), Ramgadhwa (4 km), Tajpur (6 km), Bairiya (6 km), Bathana (5 km), Nyagaw (4 km). There are also two mosques in the town and nearest railway Station is Chakia about 21 km.

History

Modern Kesaria presently stands on the spot of ancient Kesaputta, which was the capital of the Kālāmas, an ancient tribe organised as a republic that was later annexed by its monarchical neighbour Kosala. The Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the

Pali Canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...

contains references to Kesaputta or Bhoganagara. Bhoganagara was situated on the border between the Lichhavis and the Mallas.

Legend

Alara Kalama, Buddha's teacher before enlightenment, is said to have been from Kesaputta. According to Jataka tales, the Buddha ruled this place as a Chakravartin Raja in a previous life. During one of the Buddha's visits to Kesaputta, he gave an essential discourse, the celebrated Kesamutti Sutta, also known as the Kalama Sutta. The local people call this Stupa Devala, meaning "the house of God." Before the excavation of this, they believed that inside it there is a temple of Shiva which was built by King Bhema containing a lot of treasures.

Kesariya Stupa

Initially constructed as a mud stupa, it gained its present structure in the Maurya, Sunga and Kushana period. The stupa dates between 200 AD and 750 AD and may have been associated with the 4th-century ruler, Raja Chakravarti. Kesariya Stupa is 104 feet high. The Chinese

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...

mentions having seen the grand Stupa in ''Kia-shi-po-lo'' (Kesariya) but it was deserted and overgrown. The Kesariya stupa was discovered in 1958 during an excavation led by Archaeologist KK Muhammed of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). A 1998 excavation of the area surrounding the stupa uncovered significant items, such as Islamic coins, arrowheads, copper and terracotta items, earthen lamps, decorated bricks, etc. Some images of Buddha, in ‘Bhoomi Sparsh Mudra’ and other sitting postures, were found.

Transport

Transport and accommodation are available from the state capital,

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

, for visit to the Bodh circuit ( Bodhgaya, Rajgir,

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

, Vaishali, Kesaria, Mehsi, Lumbini, Kushinagar, Sarnath), Jain Circuit ( Rajgir,

Pawapuri Pawapuri, or Pavapuri (also called Apapapuri, meaning "the sinless town"), is a holy site for Jainism, Jains located in the Nalanda district of Bihar state in East India, eastern India. It is located about 19 kilometres from Rajgir and 101 kilo ...

), and Sikh Circuit in Bihar.

Climate

References

{{Reflist

External links

Bharat Online.com
Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India Archaeological sites in Bihar Tourism in Bihar