Koá¹ÂÃÂgamana (PÃÂli), also known as Kanakamuni in Sanskrit or alternatively Koá¹ÂÃÂgon or Kanakagamana, is one of the ancient Buddhas whose biography is chronicled in chapter 23 of the Buddhavaá¹Âsa, one of the books of the Pali Canon.
According to TheravÃÂda Buddhist tradition, Koá¹ÂÃÂgamana is the twenty-sixth of the twenty-nine named Buddhas, the fifth of the Seven Buddhas of Antiquity, and the second of the five Buddhas of the present kalpa.
The present kalpa is called the bhadrakalpa (Auspicious aeon). The five Buddhas of the present kalpa are:
Koá¹ÂÃÂgamana is said to have been born in Subhagavati Park in Sobhavati (now known as Araurakot, located about southwest of Nigalihawa) on Wednesday; because of this Koá¹ÂÃÂgamana is placed on the Wednesday pedestal.
Koá¹ÂÃÂgamana Buddha was born in Sobhavati, the capital of King Sobha (present day- Nigali Sagar, Nepal) within the serene Subhagavati Park. His father was Yannadatta who was a Brahmin, and his mother was Uttara. Koá¹ÂÃÂgamana Buddha spent three thousand years in his royal household, residing in three palaces: Tusita, Santusita, and Santuttha.
According to Jataka, Koá¹ÂÃÂgamana Buddha's height is traditionally described as 20 cubits high (approximately 30 feet or 9.14 meters). His chief wife was Rucigatta who bore him a son named Satthavaha. Koá¹ÂÃÂgamana Buddha renounced the world on an elephant and practiced austerities for six months. He received milk-rice from Brahmin AggisomaâÂÂs daughter and grass for his seat from the grain-watcher Tinduka. His enlightenment was attained under Udumbara tree.
Koá¹ÂÃÂgamana Buddha died at the age of thirty thousand in PabbatÃÂrÃÂma.
Koá¹ÂÃÂgamana is mentioned in a 3rd-century BCE inscription by Ashoka at Nigali Sagar, in today's Nepal. There is an Ashoka pillar at the site today. Ashoka's inscription in Brahmi is on the fragment of the pillar still partly buried in the ground. The inscription made when Emperor Asoka at Nigali Sagar in 249 BCE records his visit, the enlargement of a stupa dedicated to the Kanakamuni Buddha, and the erection of a pillar:
According to Xuanzang, Koá¹ÂÃÂgamana's relics were held in a stupa in Nigali Sagar, in what is now Kapilvastu District in southern Nepal.