Rajgir & Vulture's Peak

Before Nalanda, before the universities, there was Rajgir — Rajagriha, the walled capital of Magadha under King Bimbisara, the Buddha's great patron. He spent many rains retreats in and around this valley, and much of what we have as the teaching was first spoken here.

Gridhakuta — the Vulture's Peak

The most sacred spot is Gridhakuta, the Vulture's Peak, a modest hill reached by a stone path Bimbisara is said to have laid so that he could visit the Buddha. From this outcrop the Buddha gave many discourses, and the Mahayana tradition holds that the Heart Sutra and the Lotus Sutra were taught here. A simple brick platform marks the place; pilgrims sit facing the valley and recite.

The wider valley

Rajgir holds more than the peak: the hot springs still used by pilgrims and ascetics; the Saptaparni cave, where the First Buddhist Council gathered after the parinirvana to recite the teaching into memory; the ruins of Bimbisara's jail; and the bamboo grove, the Venuvana, the first land ever donated to the sangha. We walk the peak in the cool of the morning and read the sutra given there before descending.