Mahsi: (Huen Tsang page 2) This is a very important site for Buddhists. In the last paragraph of page two, Huen Tsang writes about the sanghramma Prasenajit Raja built for the Buddhas aunt. I mean Maha Prajapati Gautami. I will quote him. “By the side of this hall (Sigiyansirpur), not far from it, above the ruins a stupa is built. This is where stood the vihara which king Prasenajit built for Prajapati Bhikshuni, the maternal aunt of the Buddha.” The quoted paragraph mentions the maternal aunt of the Buddha. In the local dialect the maternal aunt is called Mahsi. Just one and a half kilometers south to ‘Sigiyansirpur’ village is a village on a stupa called Mahsi. So this stupa marks the spot where the Buddhas maternal aunt, namely Prajapati Gautami, had a sangharama. The stupa is big, and the wonderful thing is it should have the ruins of the sanghramma that was built for Prajapati Gautami. Today the top of the stupa is a rural bazaar with a road passing over it. A mixture of Rajputs and dalits live on the stupa. Mahsi is an undisputed case. The very name states it is Prajapati Gautami’s stupa. It is south of ‘Sigiyansirpur’ so fits into Huen Tsangs statement, “By the side of this hall.” We realize that Mahsi is proof that Sigiyansirpur is the sanghramma Prasenajit Raja made for the Buddha because the bearings of both the sanghrammas tally with what Huen Tsang says. The nighbouring village to Mahsi, namely Parsohana, is further proof that Mahsi is the sanghramma Prasenajit Raja made for Maha Prajapati Gautami. The fact that the sangarama was named Mahsi which was mahaprajapaties designation as the Buddha’s maternal aunt, means Mahaprajapati Gautami was regarded the maternal aunt of the whole of India.
Buddha, Buddhism.