Rajgir

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Rajgir (Hindi: राजगीर, Rājagīr ) is a town in the district of Nalanda in the southern Indian state of Bihar. It has about 35,000 inhabitants. ( :; Pali राजगृह, Rājagṛha: Rājagaha Sanskrit ) known in Indian antiquity was the place as Rajagriha.

History

Rajagriha was originally the village Girivraja ( Pali: Giribbaja ). King Bimbisara of Magadha built it in the 5th century BC to a major metropolis, and made it his capital. The Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, who was standing with Bimbisara in friendly terms, held repeatedly on there. In Rajagriha was held the first Buddhist Council under Bimbisara's son and successor Ajatasattu. After Ajatasattus death Pataliputra Rajagriha superseded as capital.

The city occurs repeatedly in Buddhist literature. The Pali Canon refers to the Geiersberg as a place of meditation of the historical Buddha and as a place where Sariputta, one of the main disciples of the Buddha, many teachings undertook. According to the Mahayana tradition revealed Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of universal compassion, on the Geiersberg the significant literary Heart Sutra.