Rajgir

• 1. Introduction

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  Rajgir is a town in the Nalanda district of Bihar, India, and nobody can say exactly when it began. Ceramics found there date to about 1000 BC, yet the Mahabharata already tells tales of its kings. Its older name, Rajagriha, means The City of Kings. It was the first capital of Magadha, a state that would eventually grow into the Mauryan Empire.

  This story asks how one valley ringed by hills came to matter to so many people. Why did kings and religious teachers alike settle there? Why did a Chinese pilgrim write almost only about its past? And what is left of the royal city today?

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• 2. Names and a Giant

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  The name Rajgir means royal mountain, and it descends from Rajagriha, a Sanskrit name meaning house of the king. In Pali the same name appears as Rajagaha. The valley has also gone by Vasumati, Brhadrathapura, Girivraja and Kusagrapura.

  Each name carries its own claim about who started the city. The Ramayana calls it Vasumati and says it was founded by Vasu, the fourth son of Brahma. The Mahabharata gives the credit to a founder named Brhadratha, which is why that epic also calls the city Barhadrathapura. Girivraja appears in the Ramayana and in Pali texts, where it is spelled Giribajja. The commentator Buddhaghosa explained it as an enclosure of hills. Kusagrapura is found in the Jinaprabhasuri and, in Chinese, in the writings of Xuanzang. It means the place of superior reed grass.

  The Mahabharata also supplies the city's most violent legend. Its king, Jarasandha, fought the Pandava brothers and their ally Krishna. He seemed unbeatable because his body could rejoin any limb that was cut away. A wrestling match with Bhima, one of the Pandavas, ended when Bhima split him in two. Bhima then threw the halves down facing opposite ways, so they could never join again. A place called Jarasandha's Akhara, where martial arts are practised, still carries the king's name.

  Rajgir also turns up in Valmiki's Ramayana. The city appears in the scene where Ram and Vishwamitra travel to visit King Janaka.

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• 3. Kings and Walls

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  Bimbisara, who lived from 558 to 491 BC, ruled from Rajgir as a king of the Haryanka dynasty. His son Ajatashatru, dated 492-460 BC, kept him in captivity in the same city. The sources do not agree on which of the two, both contemporaries of the Buddha, was responsible for building it. Ajatashatru's son Udayin, dated 460-440 BC, moved the capital to Pataliputra, modern Patna, in the 5th century BC. Rajgir had one more turn as a first seat of power. Shishunaga, dated 413-395 BC, founded the Shishunaga dynasty in 413 BC with Rajgir as its initial capital, before it too moved to Pataliputra.

  Around the old city ran a cyclopean wall of almost 50 km that followed the tops of the surrounding hills. It probably served two purposes. It defended against attackers, and it guarded against monsoon rainwater rushing down from the hills. Sixteen towers rose along it at irregular intervals. Archaeological finds date the wall to about the 6th century BCE.

  The most notable tower was the Pippala stone house, whose remains lie on the eastern slope of Vaibhara hill. It was probably built to house guards. Later it became known as a place where the Buddha often stayed. Once the wall no longer served for defence, the house's 11 small cells were likely turned into individual meditation rooms for Buddhist monks.

  Modern scholars divide the site into Old and New Rajgir, relying mainly on the Chinese pilgrims Faxian and Xuanzang. The scriptures of the Jains and Buddhists list place-names without saying where they lie, so the pilgrims' accounts guide the search. Old Rajgir sits in a valley among low hills and is defined by an earthen embankment called the Inner Fortification. The cyclopean walls form the Outer Fortification, running along the crest with large breaks. New Rajgir lies inside a larger embankment outside the valley's northern entrance, beside the modern town. It was probably fortified around the 1st century BCE.

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• 4. Two Teachers

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  Gridhra-kuta, the Hill of the Vultures, is where Gautama Buddha spent several months meditating and preaching. He also rested at Venuban, which is now a government-owned tourist spot. King Bimbisara offered him a forest monastery, and the Buddha initiated the king and others into Buddhism here. Rajgir is also where he delivered the Atanatiya Sutra. The city became one of his key places for teaching. On one of the hills lies the Saptaparni Cave, where the First Buddhist Council met under the leadership of Maha Kassapa.

  Two people from the Buddha's circle are counted among Rajgir's notable figures. Sariputta was one of his two chief disciples. Jivaka was a physician who lived in the time of both Bimbisara and the Buddha.

  Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara, as Jains call their revered teachers, spent fourteen years of his life at Rajgir and Nalanda. During the four-month rainy season retreat called Chaturmas, he stayed at one place in Rajgir and spent the rest of the year in places nearby. The Kalpa Sutra, a Svetambara scripture of the 3rd century BCE, counts ten such retreats at Rajagriha. Magadha was then ruled by King Srenika, a devout follower of Mahavira, and Rajgir was his capital. Both teachers preached here in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Jain tradition also names an earlier Tirthankara as born in this valley.

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• 5. Jain Temples and Caves

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  Munisuvrata, the 20th Tirthankara, is said to have been born in Rajgir. Four of the five great events of his life, known as the Panch Kalyanakas, happened here. They were his conception, his birth, his initiation into monkhood and his attainment of omniscience. The fifth, nirvana, took place at Sammet Shikharji. The Svetambara Siddhantha adds that Vasupujya, the 12th Tirthankara, broke his fast at Rajagriha. Mahavira's 11 chief disciples, the ganadharas, attained nirvana here as well. A temple to Munisuvrata about 1200 years old stands in the town among many other Jain temples.

  The Aupapatika Sutra, a Svetambara scripture of the 5th century BCE, describes the meaning of each of the five hills at length. At the foot of the hills stands the Naulakha Temple, also called Gaon Mandira, the village temple. It covers 8,007 sq. ft. Its spire reaches 87 ft with the flagstaff and carries 85 decorative kalashas. The main idol is a black stone figure of Munisuvrata, installed in 1447 CE by a lay follower named Jinadasa. Lions are carved at its base. The temple was renovated in 1763 CE by Manekchandbhai of Hooghly, again in 1961 CE by Devasibhai of Jharia, and a third time in 2008. In 1961 Acharya Kailasasagarasuri installed a new Munisuvrata idol, 9.1 ft tall.

  Three older idols were carried down from the hills. Rishabhanatha came from Suvarnagiri, the 4th hill, and Shantinatha from Ratnagiri, the 2nd. Both are dated to 1447 CE. The Rishabhanatha has long locks of hair, following Svetambara belief as described by Acharya Hemachandrasuri. A Parshvanatha from Udayagiri, the 3rd hill, may date to the 15th century CE. In 2008 Acharya Muktiprabhasuri consecrated an idol of Mahavira in an underground cellar of the temple.

  Travellers' records show how crowded the hills once were. On Vaibhara, the 5th hill, one traveller counted 24 temples in the 16th century CE. Another counted 25 in the early 17th, and a third counted 52 at the end of the 17th. Today it has 6 Svetambara temples. Suvarnagiri had 17 by the end of the 17th century CE and now has a single temple of Rishabhanatha. On Vipulachalgiri, the 1st hill, Mahavira had once preached at the Gunashila Chaitya. Two lay devotees named Vaccaraja and Devaraja built a temple there in the 14th century CE. A newer Munisuvrata temple was built on the same spot in 2008.

  Vaibhara also holds Gupta-era ruins, including the first known idol marked with a lanchana, an identifying symbol. It shows Neminatha and dates to the early 5th century CE. The Mahavira temple there was renovated in 1607 CE with Mughal-era artistic elements. The Bada Mandira, dedicated to Munisuvrata, dates to 1865 CE and has a nine-tier spire. At the place marking the nirvana of the ganadharas, including Gautama Swami, current footprints were installed in 1774 CE by Jagat Seth Mehtab Rai.

  At the foot of the hills, the Sona Bhandara Cave measures 34 ft long and 17 ft wide. Folk legend says King Srenika's treasure lies hidden behind a sealed wall inside. An inscription records that Acharya Vairadevasuri had it built for Jain ascetics in the 4th century CE. Carvings show tirthankaras including Padmaprabha, Parshvanatha and Mahavira, and the outer walls display the wheel of dharma. After Cunningham inspected the cave, several scholars suggested it was Buddhist. An inscription on a southern wall ended that idea. Its architecture resembles the Nagarjuni and Barabar caves of the Mauryan era. Centuries later Hindus took it over, as a Vishnu sculpture found in a mound at one cave shows.

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• 6. A Past Remembered

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  In the 7th century, the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited Rajgir and found little to report from his own day. The only living activity he mentioned was two old Buddhist monasteries with active communities. He credited almost every monument to Bimbisara or Ashoka and named no present-day patrons. At Nalanda and Bodh Gaya, by contrast, he recorded recent events. He wrote of Nalanda's alleged vandalism by Shashanka and its restoration under Purnavarmana. At Bodh Gaya he noted patronage by the Gupta rulers Kumaragupta I, Budhagupta and Narasimhagupta. Yijing, writing later in the 7th century, also spoke only of ancient Rajgir. The historian Kakoli Ray reads these accounts as describing a place "haloed by sacred memory and association" yet neglected by its contemporaries.

  Rajgir was hardly abandoned, though. The first clear evidence of Hindu activity there dates to the 5th century. The Maniyar matha, identified variously as a Shiva temple or a Naga shrine, was built then. It apparently stands over an older structure from the early centuries BCE. Isolated sculptures dated as late as the 7th through 9th centuries show worship continuing. Buddhist activity dwindled, though some finds date to the 10th through 12th centuries, and a few may have been made at Nalanda and carried over. Jains never stopped patronising the site. A ruined Jain temple on Vaibhara hill probably dates from the 5th century. An image of Rishabhanatha donated by the acharya Vasantanandi dates to the 8th or 9th century.

  Politically, too, Rajgir kept its rank. Under the Gupta and Pala rulers it was the capital of a vishaya, a local district, within Magadha bhukti. A copper seal that belonged to the guild of blacksmiths and carpenters of that district was found at Rajgir. Its lettering suggests the 5th century, and it points to organised commerce in the town.

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• 7. Hills and Hot Springs

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  Ratnagiri, at about 305 m, is the highest of the Rajgir Hills, an isolated pair of parallel ridges that rise sharply from the flat plain. The modern town lies just north of them, while the ancient city sat in the narrow valley between. Texts have long spoken of five hills, but they disagree on the names. The Mahabharata even gives two different lists of five in a single chapter. The modern names are Vaibhara, Vipula, Chata, Shaila, Udaya, Sona and Ratnagiri, which makes matching old and new difficult.

  Rajgir is known for hot springs that have been sacred since ancient times. The best known, Brahmakunda, is where the water of seven springs, the Saptarshi, merges, and it is noted for its healing effects. Other springs nearby feed a stream. Suryakunda, in a cluster on the north side of the hills, is stagnant and murky and a favoured habitat of frogs. Makhdum Kund is a thermal spring about 800 years old. It lies beside the tomb of Makhdoom Syed Ghulam Ali and the prayer space of Sharfuddin Yahya Maneri. Visitors use it for ablution and bathing. Bihar's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar bathed there as a child. East of town flows the Panchane River, whose name means having five mouths.

  Rajgir has a monsoon climate, with about 113 cm of rain a year that peaks in July and August. Summer highs reach 44 °C and lows fall to 20 °C. Winter highs of 28 °C drop to lows of 6 °C.

  In 1978 the Rajgir Wildlife Sanctuary was notified, covering 35.84 km2 inside the Nalanda Forest Division. It protects a remnant patch of forest on uneven ground enclosed by five hills, within the south Gangetic Plain. Its mammals include the blue bull, the chital or spotted deer, the Indian crested porcupine, the small Indian civet and the jungle cat. Birds include the painted spurfowl, the Eurasian thick knee and the painted sandgrouse. The reptile list is led by the Bengal monitor, while the frogs include Jerdon's bullfrog and the Indian tree frog.

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• 8. Rajgir Today

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  The 2011 census counted 41,587 people in Rajgir, of whom 21,869 were men and 19,718 were women, in 7030 households. The effective literacy rate among those aged 7 and above was 69.6%. Men stood at 78.1% and women at 60.1%.

  Rajgir is a Nagar Panchayat in Patna division that depends mainly on tourism, supplemented by agriculture. It ranks first in Bihar for tourism revenue. The town also hosts an ordnance factory for defence forces and the Bihar Police Academy. A Central Reserve Police Force recruit training centre there serves Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Bihar's government has acquired 100 acres near Nalanda University for an IT city and plans India's first multimedia hub there. Rajgir Film City, spread over 20 acres, has been under construction since 2017 and is the second largest integrated film city in Bihar.

  The ancient Nalanda university stood in the vicinity of Rajgir. The modern Nalanda University, named after it, was founded nearby in 2010. It began its first academic session on the 1st of September 2014, with its campus in Rajgir.

  The Japanese monk Nichidatsu Fujii, founder of the Nipponzan Myohoji order, placed a white stupa atop the Ratnagiri hills. It was inaugurated on the 25th of October 1969 as the Vishwa Shanti Stupa. It is one of 80 peace pagodas in the world and the oldest in India. A rope-way to it was gifted in the 1960s by the Japanese spiritual leader Fuji Guruji. Each year its anniversary draws monks and devotees from several south-east Asian countries, along with ministers and officials of Bihar. Visitors also come for the Rajgir Heritage Museum, the Sariputta Stupa, Ghora Katora Lake and the glass bridge. The Rajgir Zoo Safari opened to the public on the 16th of February 2022.

  Notable people from the town include the poet and diplomat Abhay K and Jabir Husain, an author and former chairperson of the Bihar Legislative Council. Satyadev Narayan Arya was Governor of Tripura, a former Governor of Haryana and eight times MLA from Rajgir.

  In 2013, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced an international cricket stadium for Rajgir. It is still under construction within the Rajgir Sports Complex.

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