The monuments of Kushinagar are divided into three distinct groups comprising the main site of the Nirvana Temple, central stupa and surrounding monasteries, to the southwest the Mathakuar shrine, and finally the Ramabhar Stupa a kilometre to the east.
The Nirvana Stupa is the huge brickwork stupa exposed by Carlyle in 1876. A copper vessel was unearthed at the site bearing an inscription in ancient Brahmi, which stated that Lord Buddha's remains had been deposited here.
The Nirvana Temple houses the famous 6m long statue of the reclining Buddha. Again the statue, carved from Chunar sandstone, was unearthed during the excavations of 1876. It represents the dying Buddha reclining on his right side in the familiar tradition. An inscription dates the statue to the 5th century AD.
The Mathakuar Shrine lies approximately 400m from the Parinirvana stupa. A black stone image of the Buddha in the bhumisparsha or earth-touching mudra (a mudra is a hand gesture with a specific meaning; in this case it represents the time Buddha was calling the earth to testify he had fulfilled all the requirements to the attainment of enlightenment). Where Sarnath is the location of the first sermon given by Lord Buddha, this is the last.
Some 1km away the Ramabhar Stupa stupa rises to a height of 49ft and marks the site where the Lord Buddha was cremated.
Several temples of different Asian countries including Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese dot the site and can be visited.