Rajgir

History at a glance

1. Mahabharata era
   Jarasandha rules Magadha from Rajgir. Sources name his Akhara, and Chariot Wheel Marks on the rocks nearby — thirty feet of deep grooves attributed by local legend to Krishna's arrival.
2. 6th century BCE
   Rajgir is the capital of Magadha under Bimbisara — King Shrenik in Jain sources. He gives the Buddha the Venuvana bamboo grove as a first gift, and is converted by him.
3. 6th century BCE
   Mahavira spends fourteen years between Rajgir and Nalanda, keeping chaturmas at a single place in Rajgir. Munisuvrata, the 20th Tirthankara, is held to have been born here.
4. Buddha's lifetime
   The Buddha preaches on Griddhakuta — the Lotus, Heart and Prajnaparamita Sutras. The physician Jivaka treats him after he is injured by Devadatta.
5. After the parinirvana
   The FIRST BUDDHIST COUNCIL meets in the Saptaparni cave under Maha Kassapa. The Buddha's teachings are set down.
6. Mauryan period
   The main Son Bhandar cave is cut, and later holds a votive Jain stele.
7. 1969
   The Vishwa Shanti Stupa is completed on Ratnagiri hill — founded by NICHIDATSU FUJII, as a reaction to the atomic bombing of Japan, inspired by Gandhi. One of around 80 peace pagodas built worldwide by Nipponzan Myohoji, and described as the first and best known.
8. 1993
   New initiatives give the stupa its present form.
9. Recent
   A glass bridge and a nature safari are developed inside a 500-acre park, and a Rajgir Zoo Safari opens with Asiatic lion and Bengal tiger. A new ropeway with 18 glass cabins is described as planned.

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