Rajgir
Rajgir (old name Rajagriha, meaning "The City of Kings," is an ancient city and university town in the Nalanda district of Bihar, India. Also a Cultural capital of Magadh. It was the capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty, the Mauryan Empire, and it was the retreat center for the Buddha and his sangha. Other historical figures such as Mahavira and king Bimbisara lived there, and due to its religious significance, the city holds a place of prominence in Buddhist, Jain and Hindu scriptures.
Rajgir was the first capital of the ancient kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire. It finds mention in India's renowned literary epic, the Mahabharata, through its king Jarasandha. The town's date of origin is unknown, although ceramics dating to about 1000 BC have been found in the city. The 2,500-year-old cyclopean wall is also located in the region.
The ancient Nalanda university was located in the vicinity of Rajgir, and the contemporary Nalanda University named after it was founded in 2010 nearby. The town is also famed for its natural springs and towering hills that dominate the landscape. It is also depicted in Valmiki Ramayan when Ram along with Vishwamitra is on their way to visit King Janaka.
As of 2011, the population of the town was reported to be 41,000 while the population in the community development block was about 88,500.
Etymology
The name Rajgir, literally meaning "royal mountain", comes from the historic Rājagṛiha, meaning "house of the king" or "royal house". It has also historically been known as Vasumati, Brhadrathapura, Grivraja/Girivraja and Kusagrapura. Girivraja, a name given in the Rāmāyaṇa as well as in Pali texts, is explained by Buddhaghosa as meaning "an enclosure of hills". "Vasumatī" is a name given in the Rāmāyaṇa because of the city's legendary founding by Vasu, the fourth son of Brahmā. The Mahābhārata, on the other hand, attributes the city's founding to Bṛhadratha, and accordingly it calls the city Bārhadrathapura. The name Kuśāgrapura is given in the Jinaprabhasūri and also by Xuanzang; this name means "the place of superior reed grass".History
The epic Mahabharata calls it Girivraja and recounts the story of its king, Jarasandha, and his battle with the Pandava brothers and their allies Krishna. Mahabharata recounts a wrestling match between Bhima and Jarasandha, the then king of Magadha. Jarasandha was invincible as his body could rejoin any dismembered limbs. According to the legend, Bhima split Jarasandha into two and threw the two halves facing opposite to each other so that they could not join. There is a famous Jarasandha's Akhara.Rajgir was the capital of Haryanka dynasty kings Bimbisara and Ajatashatru. Ajatashatru kept his father Bimbisara in captivity here. The sources do not agree on which of the Buddha's royal contemporaries, Bimbisara and Ajatashatru, was responsible for its construction. It was the ancient capital city of the Magadha kings until the 5th century BC when Udayin, son of Ajatashatru, moved the capital to Pataliputra. Shishunaga founded Shishunaga dynasty in 413 BC with Rajgir as its initial capital before it was moved to Pataliputra.
It is associated with the founders of both the religions: Jainism and Buddhism, associated with both the historical Arihant Shraman Bhagawan Mahavira and Buddha.
It was here that Gautama Buddha spent several months meditating, and preaching at Gridhra-kuta,.It was also the relaxing place of him in Venuban which is a government owned tourist place now. He also delivered some of his famous sermons and initiated king Bimbisara of Magadha and others to Buddhism. It was here that Budhha delivered his famous Atanatiya Sutra. On one of the hills is the Saptaparni Cave where the First Buddhist Council was held under the leadership of Maha Kassapa.
Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara spent fourteen years of his life at Rajgir and Nalanda, spending Chaturmas at a single place in Rajgir and the rest in the places in the vicinity. It was the capital of one of his Shravaks King Shrenik. Thus Rajgir is also of religious importance to Jains. The twentieth Jain Tirthankara, Munisuvrata is supposed to have been born here. An ancient temple dedicated to Tirthankara Munisuvrata is also present here along with many other Jain temples. This temple is also a place for four Kalyanakas of Tirthankara Munisuvrata.File:Cyclopian wall, Rajgir. .jpg|thumb|The historic locality is surrounded by the Rajgir Hills and remains of cyclopean walls.It is also mentioned in Jain and Buddhist scriptures, which give a series of place-names, but without geographical context. The attempt to locate these places is based largely on reference to them and to other locations in the works of Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, particularly Faxian and Xuanzang. It is on the basis of Xuanzang in particular that the site is divided into Old and New Rajgir. The former lies within a valley and is surrounded by low-lying hills, Rajgir Hills. It is defined by an earthen embankment, with which is associated the Outer Fortification, a complex of cyclopean walls that runs along the crest of the hills. New Rajgir is defined by another, larger, embankment outside the northern entrance of the valley and next to the modern town.
The old site of Rajgir was surrounded by an almost 50 km-long cyclopean wall that followed the tops of the surrounding hills. It likely served a dual purpose as both defence against attackers and protection from potential flooding caused by monsoon rainwater flowing down from the hills. 16 towers were also built along the walls at irregular intervals to strengthen the defences. The most notable of these was the Pippala stone house, whose remains have been identified on the eastern slope of the Vaibhara hill. Probably originally built to house guards, it later became known as a place where the Buddha often stayed. Later, when it was no longer used for defensive purposes, the Pippala house's 11 small cells were likely repurposed to serve as individual meditation rooms for Buddhist monks. Based on archaeological finds, the cyclopean walls of old Rajgir are dated to about the 6th century BCE, while "New" Rajgir was probably fortified around the 1st century BCE.
Gupta and Pala periods
Rajgir appears to have declined in importance somewhat after the 1st or 2nd century CE. Xuanzang visited the site in the 7th century, but the only contemporary activity he mentioned was two old Buddhist monasteries that still had active monastic communities; other than that, he only wrote about Rajgir's ancient past. He attributed almost all the religious monuments he saw to Bimbisara or Ashoka and did not mention any contemporary patrons or building activity. This stands in stark contrast to his descriptions of Nalanda and Bodh Gaya, which both contain reference to events that took place either during his own lifetime or in the recent past. Yijing's account from later in the 7th century also refers only to Rajgir's ancient past. Kakoli Ray describes the impression of Rajgir from these accounts as a place " in its own past, haloed by sacred memory and association but uncared for by contemporaries."Rajgir was hardly abandoned, though – in fact, the first clear evidence of Hindu activity dates from this period, during the 5th century. The Maniyar maṭha, variously identified as a Shiva temple or a Naga shrine, dates from this period, although it appears to have been built on the site of an older structure dating back to the early centuries BCE. Some ceramic and sculptural finds from the site are stylistically dated to later, with isolated sculptures dated as late as the 7th through 9th centuries, indicating that Hindu worship continued at the site throughout that period. Although Buddhist activity does seem to have dwindled significantly at Rajgir during this period, some Buddhist finds are attributed to as late as the 10th through 12th centuries. Some of these may have been made at Nalanda before being transported to Rajgir. Meanwhile, Rajgir never seems to have lost importance for Jains, who continued to actively patronise the site. A ruined Jain temple on the Vaibhara hill probably dates from the 5th century, while an image of Rishabhanatha donated by the acharya Vasantanandi is dated to the 8th or 9th century.
Rajgir also kept political significance during this period, as the capital of a vishaya in Magadha bhukti attested during the Gupta and Pala periods. An inscribed copper seal that once belonged to the Rajgir vishaya's guild of blacksmiths and carpenters, palaeographically dated to perhaps the 5th century, was found at Rajgir, indicating a certain level of commercial organisation at Rajgir during this period.
In Jainism
Rājagṛha is the place where Munisuvrata, the 20th tirthankara, experienced 4 of his Panch Kalyanakas. Additionally, the Śvētāmbara Siddhāntha notes that Vasupujya, the 12th tirthankara, broke his fast at Rājagṛha.As per the Kalpa Sūtra, a 3rd century BCE scripture of the Śvētāmbara Siddhāntha, Mahavira Swami, the 24th tirthankara, spent 10 chaturmasyas at Rājagṛha. It is also the place where the 11 ganadharas of Mahavira attained nirvana. Rājagṛha was the capital city of Magadha, which was then ruled by King Śreṇika, a devout disciple of Mahavira. The significance of each of the 5 hills of Rājagṛha is described at length in Aupapātika Sūtra, a 5th century BCE Śvetāmbara Jaina scripture.