Parinirvana is a Mahayana Buddhist festival that remembers the death of the Buddha when he reached Nirvana at the age of eighty. It is also known as Nirvana Day. Nirvana is believed to be the end of the cycle of death and rebirth. Buddhism teaches that Nirvana is reached when all want and suffering is gone. Parinirvana Day is celebrated by Mahayana Buddhists.
How Buddhists celebrate Parinirvana ?
Buddhists celebrate Nirvana Day by meditating or by going to Buddhist temples or monasteries. As with other Buddhist festivals, celebrations vary throughout the world. In monasteries Nirvana Day is treated as a social occasion. Food is prepared and some people bring presents such as money, household goods or clothes.
Buddhist meditate this day. Buddhist monks also read the Parinibanna Sutta. Nirvana Day also is a traditional day for pilgrimage. In India Buddhists visit Kushinagar where Buddha took his last breath.
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Where Buddha Died?
Buddha is believed to have died near a city named Kushinagar, located in present day Uttar Pradesh in India. Kushinagar is a major pilgrimage destination on Nirvana Day. The stupa marks the place where the Buddha’s ashes were thought to have been buried. This structure also contains a popular reclining Buddha statue, depicting the dying Buddha.
When visiting Kushinagar one can visit many Buddhist temples and stupa. The Wat Thai Temple is one of them. This is considered one of the most beautiful temples in Kushinagar. It is formally called the Wat Thai Kushinagra Chalermaraj Temple, and it was built with donations from Thai Buddhists and opened to the public in 2001. The Ramabhar Stupa marks the place where the Buddha was thought to have been cremated. In Buddhist texts this stupa is also referred as the Mukutbandhan-Chaitya.
On Nirvana Day, Buddhists think about their lives and how they can work towards gaining the perfect peace of Nirvana. They remember friends or relations who have recently died and reflect on the fact that death is a part of life for everyone. The idea that nothing stays the same is central to Buddhism. Buddhists believe that loss and change are things to be accepted rather than causes of sadness.
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Written by Religion World — Bhavya Srivastava is the founder of Religion World and a veteran journalist with over 18 years of experience across broadcast, print, and digital media. A founding member of the International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ), he has spent much of his career reporting on and producing content about religion, faith, and spirituality. View full profile →.
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