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Jivakarama vihara

Jivakarama vihara

pilgrimage site · Bihar

State
Bihar
Type
Pilgrimage Site

Jivaka, royal physician to king Bimbisara, owned a mango orchard below Gijjhakuta hill outside Rajgir, and gave it to the Buddha's sangha along with the monastery he built on it. The Buddha was treated here after Devadatta injured him. What survives is the ground plan: long parallel halls where monks ate and slept together, no private cells and no stupa, which is what makes it look unlike every later vihara. Archaeology puts it at roughly 530 to 400 BCE. It is a short stop unless building plans genuinely interest you.

Jivakarama vihara is known for

Mango grove monasteryBuddha-era foundationsBelow Gijjhakuta hillNo stupa, no cells

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