Day 7

12 Nov 2009 (Kusinara – Patna)

Left Kusinara early in the morning, we passed by the river where Buddha took his last bath before he went to Kusinara. His body turned gold in color again after the bath.

Then we arrived at the Stupa where Cunda offered the last meal to the Buddha.

Next, we had lunch at the Zen restaurant. Then we arrived at Vesali. There were 5 incidents happened at Vesali, namely, the monkeys offered food to the Buddha and dug a pond for Buddha to take bath, The recitation of Ratana Sutta, the renunciation of Bhikkhuni, the announcement of Buddha’s Maha Parinibanna, and the 2nd Sangha Council.

After that, we visited the ancient Stupa of Vesali, where the Licchavis had a portion of Buddha’s relic and built a clay stupa. Then King Asoka was here and built another bigger stupa on top of it. Then the Stupa was enlarged again by the Gupta.

Finally, we crossed the Ganges river and arrived at Patna. It’s a very crowded and busy city with 10 million populations.