Vaishali

Vaishali was one of the world's first republics, governed by the Licchavi confederacy, and a city the Buddha loved. He spent his last rains retreat before the parinirvana nearby, and it was here that he told Ananda his passing was near.

A city of firsts

Much happened at Vaishali. The Buddha accepted a meal and a grove from the courtesan Amrapali, treating her with the same regard as kings. It was here, tradition holds, that the order of nuns was founded when the Buddha's aunt Mahaprajapati was ordained. And a century after the parinirvana, the Second Buddhist Council convened at Vaishali to resolve disputes over monastic discipline — a turning point in the history of the sangha.

The Ashokan pillar

Crowning the site is one of the best-preserved of all Ashokan pillars, a single polished shaft topped by a life-size lion facing north — the direction of the Buddha's final journey. Beside it lie the Kutagarasala monastery ruins and the Abhishek Pushkarini, the coronation tank. The site is quiet, rural and unhurried; we stop here between Rajgir and Kushinagar, in the fields where a republic once met.