Kesaria

For similarly named cities, see Caesarea (disambiguation).

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Town in Bihar, India

Kesariya
Town
Kesariya is located in Bihar Kesariya Kesariya Location in Bihar, India
Coordinates: 26°20′03′′N 84°51′17′′E / 26.334192°N 84.854820°E / 26.334192; 84.854820
Country	India
State	Bihar
District	East Champaran
Government
• Type	State Government
• Body	Bihar
Elevation	45 m (148 ft)
Languages
• Official	languageHindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	845424

Kesaria, also known as Kesariya is a town in the district of East Champaran, in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the site of a stupa built by the Mauryan king Ashoka.

Geography

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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

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

Legend

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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

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The Kesariya stupa.

Buddha's Holy Sites
Pilgrimage to

The Four Main Sites Bodh Gaya Kushinagar Lumbini Sarnath
Four Additional Sites Rajgir Sankissa Shravasti Vaishali
Other Sites Ajanta Amaravati Barabar Caves Bharhut Chandavaram Devdaha Ellora Caves Kapilavastu Kesaria Stupa Kosambi Lalitgiri Mathura Nalanda Nasik Pataliputra Pāvā Piprahwa Pushpagiri Ramagrama stupa Ratnagiri Sanchi Udayagiri Tilaurakot Varanasi Vikramashila
v t e

Main article: 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.^[1] Kesariya Stupa is 104 feet high.

The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang mentions having seen the grand Stupa in Kia-shi-po-lo^{[clarification needed ]} (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.^{[citation needed ]}

Transport

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Transport and accommodation are available from the state capital, Patna, for visit to the Bodh circuit (Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Vaishali, Kesaria, Mehsi, Lumbini, Kushinagar, Sarnath), Jain Circuit (Rajgir, Pawapuri), and Sikh Circuit in Bihar.^[2]

Climate

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Climate data for Kesaria
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	23.1 (73.6)	25.7 (78.3)	31.9 (89.4)	35.3 (95.5)	37.5 (99.5)	35.2 (95.4)	32.6 (90.7)	32.1 (89.8)	32 (90)	31.5 (88.7)	28.4 (83.1)	24.5 (76.1)	37.5 (99.5)
Record low °C (°F)	9.5 (49.1)	11.1 (52.0)	16 (61)	21.1 (70.0)	24.9 (76.8)	26.1 (79.0)	25.7 (78.3)	26 (79)	25.4 (77.7)	21.7 (71.1)	14.4 (57.9)	10.2 (50.4)	9.5 (49.1)
Source: ^[3]