About Rajgir: Rajgir is a city in Nalanda district of current Indian state Bihar. The city was in a valley surrounded by seven hills: Vaibhara, Ratna, Saila, Sona, Udaya, Chhatha, and Vipula. Mention of this place in many epics and historical scripts; add more to its historical values. This was the first capital of the kingdom Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire. Mahabharata has mentioned stories of
Jarashanda, the King of this place and his fight with
Pandavas. As per legends
Bhim, the 3rd Pandav split
Jarasandha in two halves and threw those facing opposite to each other so that they could not join. This place is also mentioned in many of the Buddhist and Jain scriptures. Rajgir is also famous for its association with Kings
Bimbisara and
Ajatashatru.
Ajatashatru kept his father
Bimbsara in captivity here and also credited with moving the capital to
Pataliputra (modern Patna).
Duration of the Trip: It was a 2 days and 3 night’s trip from Howrah. We started on Friday night and return back to Howrah at Monday early morning.
Transportation: We board
Danapur Express (12351) from Howrah station at 8:35 PM on Friday and reached Bakhtiyarpur at 04:52 AM next i.e. on Saturday. From there we booked a taxi for Rajgir.
For returning back, we used the same way i.e., first booked a taxi from Rajgir and came till Bakhtiyarpur and then board the same
Danapur Express (12352), at 10:09 PM and reached Howrah at 06:35 AM next morning.
Ticket cost Rs. 229 for Sleeper classes, Rs. 585 for 3 tiers AC, Rs 790 for 2 tiers AC for each and for Rs 1329 for 1 AC.
There are many other trains for Bakhtiyarpur from Howrah like Udyanabha Toofan Ex., Amritsar Exp., Amritsar Mail, Vibhuti Exp, Lal Quila Exp, Janta Exp and many more.
Details of Trip:
Day 1: After getting down at Bakhtiyarpur Jn., we hired a taxi to reach Rajgir, cost us Rs 400/-. On the way to Rajgir, we stopped at a place. That place is famous for its
Peda. I never had such delicious peda in my life before. We ate few peda and packed some more for future and again started for Rajgir. After reaching there at about 7:30 am, we headed to the
Hotel Triptee.
Near Nawlakha Mandir, Rajgir
Mob: 09304260974
They have their booking office at Kolkata as well, adress is:
306 B.B. Ganguli St,
Kolkata 12,
Ph 033-65699787, 09330481359, 09230615866
We were four people in the group. So booked a four bedded room in Rs. 500/-. The hotel was hygienic and good. It had a restaurant along with it and that was also good.
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| Hotel Triptee's |
We got freshen up and had our breakfast with Kachaori, Alu Sabji and Jalebi followed by Tea. The specialty of tea in Rajgir is, they put a brunt charcoal in the milk and prepare tea out of that. It tastes awesome.
The hotel owner helped us renting a car for Bodhgaya trip. The car charged us Rs. 1000/- on the agreement of taking to Bodhgaya trip, showing the important visiting places on the way and bring back to Rajgir. We started by 9:15. The places we visited were
Maniyar math, a cylindrical brick shrine, dedicated to the presiding deity of Rajagriha - Mani Nag.
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| Maniyar math |
Bimbisara's Jail made by Ajatashatru to imprisone his father, Bimbisara. But Bimbisara could continue to see
Gridhakuta and the Buddha through a window. But the jail is almost vanished by now. We can see the ruin of a circular structure with turrets at each corner.
On the way we saw the Holi site of
Pind Daan. We didn’t go to the place it was just a sight from falgu river bank.
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| From Falgu River - Gaya |
We reached
Bodhgaya at about 12 noon. As per Legends,
Prince Gautama Siddhartha sat in meditation under a bodhi tree in this place. After three days and three nights of meditation,
Siddharta attained enlightenment and insight, and the answers that he had sought. There after he was known as
Goutama Budhdha. The Bodhi tree is known as
Maha Bodhi Briksha, still can be seen in the Bodhgaya campus.
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| Maha Bodhi Briksha |
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| Maha Bodhi Temple |
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| Lord Budhdha inside Maha Bodhi Temple |
The main attractions of that place are
Maha Bodhi Temple and
Maha Bodhi Briksh. Other than those temple and tree, there are 10-12 temples made by different countries like Tibet, China, Thailand, Sri Lanka and many more. Another attraction of Bodh Gaya is
Great Statue of Buddha. The statue is 80 ft in height.
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| Thai Temple - Bodh Gaya |
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| Tibetan Temple - Bodh Gaya |
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| Chinese Temple - Bodh Gaya |
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| The Great Buddha Statue |
One can fine the foot steps of Lord Budhda and some cute Little Budhdhas also in Bodh Gaya.
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| Foot Steps of Lord Budhda |
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| Cute Little Budhdhas |
Show on life of
Gautam Budhdha is used to be conducted in Bodhgaya auditorium. Duration of the show was 45 mins to 1 hr. We went for the show which was just awesome. Entry ticket is of Rs 30/- for Indians and Rs 150/- for foreigners.
Other than this there is no entry fee in any of the temples in Bodhgaya. We had to buy ticket of Rs 20/- for camera to take it inside the Maha Bodhi Temple. Car Parking cost is also Rs 20/-
We started from Bodhgaya for Rajgir by 3:30 pm. On the way we had our lunch with roti, Paneer Masala and typical Bihari pickle. We reached to our hotel by 6 pm. After having some tea and evening snacks we went for
Lakshmi Narayan Temple which was near to the Rajgir main bus stop and was 5-10 mins walking distance from our hotel and
Naulakha Temple just beside of our Hotel.
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| Naulakha Temple |
After visiting the temple we roamed around in the city for some more time. By 10’O clock we came back to our hotel and finished our delicious Bengali dinner with rice, dal, aalu posto, cauliflower curry, fish curry and chatney.
Day 2 : We had our Rajgir special breakfast with the same menu as the earlier day and decided to go for Rajgir local sightseeing. Instead of booking a car, we decided to take the ride of
Tanga, the horse driven cart. After a long bargaining we were able to make the driver ready for Rs 150/-. Though there was
RaniDhanno and no
Basanti, still I was feeling that I am Viru of
Sholey. I even took the pleasure of driving the cart in times as well. We visited almost all the historical places of Rajgir on this day. Those were
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| Our Tanga |
Ajatashatru Fort, as the name implies, was built by King
Ajatashatru of Magadha to strengthen the defenses of his capital Rajgir. Though the fort doesn’t exist anymore, the ruins of this fort, built on the Ganges in the sixth century BC, can be seen now days.
Saptaparni Cave is the place where the First Buddhist Council was held under the leadership of Maha Kassapa. Also Buddha sometimes stayed there, and it was used as an accommodation for visiting monks.
Brahmakund is a natural hot water spring.
King Bimbisara used to take his bath there sometimes. This spring is believed to be very holy among Hindus. I too had a plan to take bath in that spring. But it was not at all clean. So I simply drop the plan.
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| Bramhakund |
Venuvana is a bamboo grove given to
Lord Buddha by
Bimbisara, which was the first Buddhist monastery ever. It was given to
Buddha so that he and his monks could take rest here, and give discourses to people.
Legend says site of
Jarasandha ka Akhara has witnessed one of the most important battles in the Mahabharata war, between
Bhim and
Jarasandh. In this furious battle
Jarasandha was subdued and killed by
Bhim.
As per legend one wheel of
Jarasandha’s chariot has been tapped in mud in this place. Still there are some marks which the local people used to treat as the mark of the wheel. Hence this place is named as
Rath ka pahiya.
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| Marks of chariot wheel |
We also visited one
temple of Jarasandha in Rajgir.
Jivakarama is a monastery donated to
Buddha by
Jivaka, the greatest physician of
Buddha's time.
Swarna bhandar is hollowed out of a single massive rock; these cave chambers have separate doorways, leading to the treasury of king Bimbisara, which is still undamaged. Inscriptions on the wall in the Sankhlipi or shell script give the clues to open the doorway.
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| Sone Bhandar |
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| Sone Bhandar |
Rope way in Rajgir is one of the unique ropeways. Unlike ropeways of other places, it is having only single chair and doesn’t stop anywhere. One has ride on and get down while it is on move only. It takes one to Biswa Santhi Stup situated in top of the hill and again takes back to the place from where it started. Ticket for per person is Rs 60/- for both way journey.
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| Rope way at Rajgir |
Gridhakuta is the hill listed in Buddhist canonical texts as one of the places stayed in by the
Buddha when at Rajgir; and several notable events, including an attempt on his life by his evil cousin
Devadatta occurred there. It is a major destination for pilgrims in both ancient and modern times. It is now crowned by the Japanese-built
Shanti Stupa and has a chairlift to the top.
Biswa Santhi Stup is designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds, and to help unite them in their search for world peace. Most (though not all) have been built under the guidance of
Nichidatsu Fujii (1885–1985), a Buddhist monk from Japan. There are 80 such
Biswa Santhi Stups around the world. Rajgir is having one of them.
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| Gate of Biswa Santhi Stup |
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| Biswa Santhi Stup |
We reached back to our hotel at 2 pm and had our lunch in the hotel’s restaurant. After finishing lunch, we took a car and started for Bakhtiyarpur by 3 pm to catch our train. On the way decided to visited Nalanda and Pawapuri. Car fare was Rs 500/-
Nalanda is famous for being a Buddhist center of learning from the fifth or sixth century. History records this as one of first great university of that time. Many students from China, Sri Lanka and many other countries used to come to learn Buddhism at
Nalanda University. There was nothing more to see in Nalanda than the ruin. But still it gave an elegant felling. Entry ticket for Indians is Rs 20/-. We spend 4 pm to 5:30 pm for visiting Nalanda and then started for
Pawapuri.
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| Ruins of Nalanda University |
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| Ruins of Nalanda University |
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| Ruins of Nalanda University |
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| Ruins of Nalanda University |
There is a Jain temple in
Pawapuri which is located in between a lake. This place is famous as
Mahabeer Jain has gained his
Moksha from this place. The temple is a symbol of excellence of architecture. No camera is allowed inside the temple.
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| Way to enter Pawapuri |
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| Pawapuri Temple |
With that we finished visiting of places and headed to the station. On the way, we took a small break at Silaw, as the place is very famous for “Khaja”. We ate some sweets and packed more.
We reached station at 8:30 pm. Our train was at 10:10 pm. We had authentic Bihari Litti-Chokha as dinner and got into train.
Disclaimer: I have tried to provide as much as details is possible for the trip. For any further clarification please feel free to contact me.
Shilpi Dutta Mukherjee :
As per the contributor of this post, this trip had been made in Jan’2011. There are chances that price and timings has got changed. Please check with Indian Railways, hotels and the local authorities about current timings and rates.