Decided to stay the night at Hotel Kanak Vihar and Restaurant as it is just opposite Rajgir Bus Stand. I might be taking an early bus to Patna the next morning.
But I am only staying on the second floor.
Took an Autorickshaw here for 20 Rupees, to hike up to Saptaparni Caves.
Those are not clouds. Just the smog. The air quality is quite bad now at 300+.
How to tell if the statue is of Buddhism or Janism? The easiest way is that Jain statues are usually naked, whereas Buddhist statues wear clothes.
Mandir Rajgir
At this location, I u-turned, and didn’t hike up to the top to the Jain Temple.
A local teenager called out to me from the Jain Temple. Curiously, I waited for him to come down to me.
He seems to be taking a video. He then asked me where do I come from? I replied Singapore. After that, he requested to take a photo with me. I obliged. His 4 other friends were on their way down to us.
I am thinking he is making a video for social media and I might be going viral in Indian social media.
Buddhist History Lesson:
Saptaparni Caves are supposedly where the First Buddhist Council was held.
The First Buddhist Council was held 3 months (some records say 6 months) after the Parinibbanna (death) of the Buddha.
This First Buddhist Council was to consolidate and affirm the teachings of the Buddha. Noting that the teachings of the Buddha was taught orally, there was no pen and paper, and no writing of the teachings at this time.
Venerable Ananda, with his super memory, recited all the teachings of the Buddha. That’s why all suttas/sutras start with “Thus have I heard”, which is what Venerable Ananda heard and recited.
After the teachings of the Buddha were recited and affirmed by the council, they chanted the teachings together to better memorise all the teachings.
My own story now:
There is an old man at the right side of my picture of the caves. He and his disciple, Hindus, came to the Saptaparni Caves for a retreat.
His disciple, talked to me, using google translate, and that’s how I knew.
Later, the disciple, asked me to give a donation for the retreat, which I obliged and gave 100 Rupees.
A short while later, another man came around and chatted with the disciple. When I was about to leave, he asked for some money, saying that he helps to clean up the place. I gave him 50 Rupees.
Bought a mango drink at this drink stall.
Quite impressed by the hiking path. The whole hike was on such paved paths.
Hindus come to Brahma Bund to take a dip in the sacred water of the 11 hot water springs, which are believed to have healing power for several chronic ailments.
I didn’t go in.
I didn’t go in.
Video of my hike to Saptaparni Caves and back.
https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOnkRoKKB6
I came back to Restaurant Magadh Spices again.
For Lunch, ordered the Chicken Butter Masala 225 Rupees, and 3 Rotis 10 Rupees each.
Since I planned to have a more chill day, for Dinner, I ordered a chicken chowmein 150 Rupees, packeted.
But, after a short nap, it was only 3pm, so I decided to visit one more site before calling it a day.
Took an autorickshaw for 50 Rupees to this site. But seeing limited autorickshaws around, I told the driver to wait and would pay him 80 Rupees for the return trip. In the end, I gave him 100 Rupees for the return trip.
Bimbisar’s Treasury (Son Bhandar Caves): Legend says that King Bimbisar’s immense treasure was hidden here.
After a quick 5-10mins, I headed back.
Would call it a day as I might want to catch the 630am bus to Patna tomorrow morning.
Not sure how much anime I can watch later since this hotel does not have wifi. Let’s see how that goes.
Will travel 