Gautama Buddha's parents were from two different mahājanapadās (kingdoms) of the Solar dynasty — his father (Śuddhodana) belonged to the Shakya kingdom, while his mother (Maya) was from the Koliya kingdom. According to Buddhist texts, after Buddha's Mahaparinirvana, his cremated remains were divided and distributed among the princes of eight of the sixteen mahājanapadās. Each of the princes constructed a stupa at or near his capital city, within which the respective portion of the ashes was enshrined.These eight stupas were located at:

Allakappa, a settlement of the Bulī people. The precise location of this place is not currently known.

Kapilavastu, capital city of the Shakya kingdom(the location of this stupa is the subject of some controversy; there is evidence it was actually constructed at Piprahwa)[8][9]

Kusinārā, capital city of the Malla kingdom

Pāvā, a major city of the Malla kingdom

Rājagaha a major city of the Magadha kingdom

Rāmagrāma, a major city of the Koliya kingdom (this settlement is sometimes referred to as Koliyanagara)

Vesāli, capital city of the Vajji kingdom

Veṭhadīpa, a settlement of Veṭhadīpaka Brahmins. The precise location of this place is not currently known.

Some 300 years later, Emperor Ashoka opened seven of these stupas and removed the Buddha relics (his goal was to redistribute the relics into 84,000 stupas which he planned to construct throughout the Maurya Empire). According to legend, the serpent king was guarding the Ramagrama stupa, and prevented Ashoka from unearthing the relic.

To this day, Ramagrama stupa remains the only intact and original stupa containing relics of Lord Buddha.The stupa has been an object of great reverence and pilgrimage site since its original construction. The 7 metres (23 ft) high stupa is now buried under a mound of earth and is awaiting further research.