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On your visit to Gorakhpur, you would be depriving yourself of a number of attractions if you restrict yourself within the delimitations of Gorakhpur. Excursions from Gorakhpur to Kushinagar and Kapilavastu will allow you the opportunity to take a close look at a number of interesting sites. Kushinagar is the place that pops up first on your mind when one plans ones excursions from Gorakhpur. Kushinagar is the place where Lord Buddha breathed his last. He was cremated at ‘Mukut Bandhan’ where a huge stupa was constructed over his ashes. At a later period, King Ashoka took the initiative to renovate it.
Kushinagar is dotted with a number of monuments that have associations with Lord Buddha and during your Gorakhpur excursions, you can have the privilege of paying visits to these sites. The Nirvana Stupa was the place where the Lord Buddha’s mortal remains were lodged. At the Nirvana Temple, you will come across an imposing 6 meter long statue of reclining Buddha. The Mathakuar Shrine is consecrated to Lord Buddha and houses an impressive black stone image of Buddha that commands reverence. The other popular tourist attractions include the Ramabhar Stupa, Japanese Temple, Chinese Temple and the Kushinagar Museum.
Excursions around Gorakhpur cannot exclude Kapilavastu. The capital city of Sakya clan is situated at a distance of about 110 kms from Gorakhpur. Kapilavastu is the place where Prince Siddhartha spent a considerable portion of his childhood. It was in Kapilavastu that Prince Siddhartha saw the four famous sights that were instrumental in shaping the future course of his life. Kapilavastu aptly exemplifies what Fa-Hien once remarked, that it was a “great scene of empty desolation”. Here you will stumble over two excavated mounds. The larger mound, it is believed, was a palace belonging to Suddhodana.
Indianholiday.com is a repository of usable inputs on Excursions from Gorakhpur and on tours to Gorakhpur.
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