Mahaparinirvana Temple Uttar Pradesh

The highlight of this modest temple, rebuilt in 1927 and set among extensive lawns and excavated monastery and stupa ruins with a circumambulatory path, is its serene 5th-century reclining Buddha, unearthed in 1876. Six metres long, it depicts Buddha on his deathbed in the paranirvana position; the devotion of pilgrims faced with the image is quite moving. At sunset, monks cover the statue to the shoulders with a long saffron-coloured silk sheet, as though putting Buddha to bed for the night. Behind the temple is a modern 19m-tall stupa encasing an ancient original, and in the surrounding park is a large bell in honour of the Dalai Lama.