Sankissa

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  WHAT IT IS: The Buddhist pilgrimage site of the Descent, where Gautama Buddha returned to earth from Tavatimsa Heaven after teaching the Abhidhamma to his mother and to the gods.
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  WHY VISIT OR CHANT: Pilgrims come to remember the Buddha's compassion for his mother, to reflect on the Dhamma, and to take refuge anew in the Triple Gem.
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  WHEN TO VISIT: October to March is cool and pleasant. The key observance is Ashvin Purnima, the Mahapavarana day on which the descent is remembered, kept by Tibetan Buddhists as Lhabab Duchen.
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  WHERE: Sankisa Basantapura in Farrukhabad District, Uttar Pradesh, on the north bank of the Ikkhumati, now called the Kali Nadi, between Kampil and Kannauj.
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  HOW:
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  Approach the stupa mound on foot in quiet reflection.
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  Walk three times clockwise around the mound and the elephant capital.
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  Offer flowers, incense, and lamps, and recite the Triple Refuge.
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  Dress modestly in clean, simple clothing.

Sankissa, called Sankassa in the Pali texts, is remembered in the Tipitaka commentaries as the place where the Buddha came back to earth. In his seventh rainy season retreat, the Buddha taught the Abhidhamma Pitaka in Tavatimsa Heaven, to his mother and to the gods, over three months. The Dhammapada Commentary tells the story at length.

As the retreat drew to its close, the elder Moggallana announced the Buddha's return to the multitude waiting at Savatthi, and they traveled to Sankissa to meet him. On the day of the Mahapavarana festival, Sakka, king of the gods, built three ladders from Mount Meru to the earth. On the right was a ladder of gold for the gods, on the left a ladder of silver for Maha Brahma and his retinue, and in the middle a ladder of jewels for the Buddha.

The Buddha descended with a great host of beings. From the top of the ladder, the nine Brahma worlds above and the Avici hell below were all visible at once. Venerable Sariputta was the first to welcome him. On this occasion the Buddha taught the Parosahassa Jataka, Jataka No. 99, to proclaim the unparalleled wisdom of Sariputta.

The Buddhavamsa Commentary names Sankissa among the unchanging places, called Avijahitatthana, where every Buddha descends after teaching the Abhidhamma to his mother in the heavens.

About three centuries after the Buddha's Mahaparinirvana, Emperor Ashoka visited Sankissa and raised a pillar with an elephant capital, as well as a stupa and a temple commemorating the descent. The elephant capital survives to this day.

The Chinese pilgrims Faxian and Xuanzang later visited the site. Each recorded that three ladders of brick and stone had been built by the ancients to remember the descent, though they had by then sunk deep into the earth. Tradition also speaks of a shrine marking the spot where the Buddha's right foot first touched the ground, a site the British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham identified and excavated in 1842, confirming Sankissa's location after it had been lost for centuries.

Sankissa is counted among the eight great pilgrimage places of the Buddhist world, and it lies about thirty leagues (roughly sixty miles) from Savatthi, the city where the Buddha had performed the Twin Miracle, simultaneously manifesting fire and water, before ascending to Tavatimsa. After the descent, the Buddha is said to have gone on to the Jetavana grove. A pilgrim who visits Sankissa after Savatthi follows the same journey that the Buddha and his assembly once made.

Visitors at Sankissa traditionally begin their recitation with the homage to the Buddha, followed by the Triple Refuge.

Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Self-Awakened One. I go for refuge to the Buddha, to the Dhamma, and to the Sangha.