How old was the Buddha when he died?

The Buddha was 80 years old when he died.

In Buddhist tradition, Siddhartha Gautama spent roughly 45 years teaching after attaining awakening at Bodh Gaya. His final journey is described in the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta, which recounts his travels through northern India before reaching Kushinagar, in present-day Uttar Pradesh.

At Kushinagar, the Buddha lay down between sala trees and entered parinirvana, the final passing beyond the cycle of rebirth. His body was later cremated, and Buddhist tradition says his relics were divided among several groups and enshrined in stupas.

The age is much more certain in the traditional biographies than the exact calendar year of his death. Scholars disagree about the chronology of his lifetime, with proposed death dates ranging broadly across the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, but the traditional lifespan remains 80 years. A common mix-up is confusing his death at Kushinagar with his enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, which occurred decades earlier.