Since then, it remained an integral part of the erstwhile empires of Maurya, Shunga, Kushana, Gupta, Harsha, and Pala dynasties.

[citation needed] When the Buddha reached his eightieth year, he felt that his time in this world was approaching an end.

These portions were distributed as follows: to Ajātasattu, king of Magadha; to the Licchavis of Vesāli; to the Sakyas of Kapilavastu; to the Bulis of Allakappa; to the Koliyas of Rāmagāma; to the brahmin of Veṭhadīpa; to the Mallas of Pāvā; and to the Malls of Kushinagar.

This period is noted for its cultural synthesis, reflected in various aspects of art, architecture, and societal norms across India.

Liston noted that it was "an object of worship" and pilgrimage site, but misunderstood the ruins to be the remnants of the fortress of a powerful divinity by the name of Mata Koonr.

[11] Kushinagar came back into prominence when Alexander Cunningham performed archaeological excavations at Matha Kuar shrine and Ramabhar stupa in 1861-1862.

[4] Archibald Carlleyle exposed the Mahaparinirvana stupa and also discovered a 6.1 metres (20 feet) meters long reclining Buddha statue in 1876.

In 1901, a Burmese monk named Sayadaw U Chandramani applied to the English Governor of India, seeking his permission to allow pilgrims to worship the reclining Buddha image in Kushinagar.

[13] However, according to the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta, the Buddha made his journey to Kushinagar, where he walked into a grove of sala trees and laid himself to rest.

The accumulated body of archaeological evidence and the historical record both support the assertion that the Buddha died and was cremated in Kushinagar.

[20] The Hindu rulers of the Gupta Empire (fourth to seventh century) enlarged the stupa and constructed a temple containing a reclining Buddha statue.

[23][24] British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham rediscovered Kushinagar in the late 19th century, and his colleague Archibald Carlleyle unearthed the 1,500-year-old reclining Buddha statue.

The Government of Uttar Pradesh has proposed the Kushinagar-Sarnath Buddha Expressway to connect these two Buddhist pilgrimage towns.

It represents the Buddha in the position he was in when he died and attained parinirvana — reclining on his right side with his head to the north, feet to the south, and face towards the west.

The shrine lies on the western end of the complex and in front of it is an excavated ruins in the shape of a Buddhist vihar, complete with a central courtyard surrounded by cells.