HISTORY OF SHRAVASTI
In the past
There entire area of the ruins is known by the twin names of Sahet Mahet. This name was applied in the recent past to two distinct groups of remains. Sahet near the main road, was the site of the famous Buddhist monastery known as Jetavana-Maha Vihara, which lay outside the limits of the ancient city. The ruins, covering roughly an area of 1500 ft. by 500 ft. consist mainly of plinths and foundations of monasteries and stupas, all Buddhist, Mahet, situated about two and half furlongs north of Sahet, denotes Shravasti city proper and is a much bigger site situated south of the river Achiravati (modern Rapti), which flows a few furlongs away. The boundary of the city is distinctly marked by a high earthen rampart with a brick wall at the top running along a circuit of 31/4 miles and pierced by several gates distinguished by high bastions. The remains within the city area include Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jaina structures and a few medieval tombs. This is now a huge mound of ruins belonging to different centuries.
Antiquity - The antiquity of Shravasti goes back to times long before the time of the Buddha. Tripitaka, mentions it as a prosperous city in the kingdom of Kosala. In the Ramayana and Mahabharata and Puranas it is described as the capital of Kosala. Its origin is traced in the Mahabharata to the reign of the legendry king Shravasta, who is stated to have founded the city giving his name to it. According to Buddhist tradition this was known as Savatthi in the sense that “Sabban Atthi”, all things are available, However, the real derivation fo the name is doubtful as the available accounts in this regard vary. Champakapuri and Chandrikapuri are the other names given to Shravasti in later times. It is difficult to accounts for the modern name Sahet Mahet, which may possible be a crude corruption of Savatthi, the Pali form of Shravasti, or great temple monastery (Shreshta Matha).
During the time of the Buddha – Although this was the capital of Kosala much before the Buddha, very little is known of the history of Shravasti till the sixth century B.C. It rose to fame owing to its association with Bhagwan Buddha and Mahavira. The Buddha performed the Great Miracle and stayed here for 25 rainy seasons on account of which and other less famous occurrences Shravasti has become one of the eighty holy places of Buddhist pilgrimage, the other seven places being Lumbini, the place of his birth; Buddha-Gaya, the place of the Enlightement; Sarnath, the place of the First Preaching of the Law, Rajagriha, where he tamed a mad elephant; Vaisali, where a monkey offered honey to him and was the capital of his favourite republic, Sankasya, where he passed away. The eight events are the subjects of many a sculpture.
Prasenajita was the king of Shravasti at the time of Bhagwan Buddha. He is belived to be referred to as Jitasatru in the Jaina texts. Before the coming of the Buddha to Shravasti, the Jaina teacher Bhagwan Mahavira, who had a large following, exerted influence over the king. But soon the fame of the Buddha reached Shravasti through the reports of Sudatta, a wealthy merchant of Shravasti, who had first met the teacher at Rajagriha. Sudatta was a man of exemplary charity and was known in Pali as Anathapindika (Anathapindada in Sanskrit), meaning ‘the feeder of the destitute’. Even at this first meeting with the Buddha he became his follower and invited him to Shravasti. As there was no monastery (vihara) to receive him, Bhagwan Buddha could not accept the request forthwith. Sudatta returned home and spared no effort to build a suitable vihara for the reception of the Buddha.
Foundation of Jetavana Maha Vihara - Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim of the seventh century A.D., relates that Sariputta (Sanskrit), the foremost of the disciples of Bhagwan Buddha, accompanied Sudatta to Shravasti to help him in the task of finding a vihara. The only suitable site that could be found near Shravasti was the park of Prince Jeta, son of Prasenajit. When Sariputta asked him to sell the park, Jeta demanded an exorbitant price, viz.,’as many gold pieces as will cover it’. Sudatta at once agreed. So great was his devotion to the Buddha that he proceeded to cover the ground except a small piece was covered, the prince asked Sudatta to desist, and on the uncovered ground the prince himself erected a temple. Hiuen Tsang further relates that the Buddha, in order to commemorate the pious gifts of both, ordered that the vihara should be called ‘Anathapindika’s arama of Jetavana-Vihara. Many variations of this story are available in the early Buddhist texts. Some additional details recorded are that the number of gold pieces spread by Sudatta amounted to eighteen crores which Jeta utilized in erecting an edifice for the Buddha, the Enlightened One. Anathapindika also spent another eighteen crores to raise a number of shrines, monasteries, store-rooms and wells. It is also stated that the dedication of the vihara was ceremonially gone through and entailed a huge expenditure.
This was the first vihara in the country, built for the Buddha and his disciples, during the life time of the Tathagata. A pictorical representation of the actual deed of the dedication is found in a bas-relief sculpture of the second century B.C. from Bharhut, now housed in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. The relief (illustrated on the front cover) shows a bullock cart in which the coins were brought to the garden and two persons engaged in spreading them over the ground. Anathapindika appears in the scene as carrying a water-pot for pouring water in the customary way as a formality of bestowing a gift. Facing him is a holy tree surrounded by a railing and six other figures, perhaps Jeta and his retinue.
In addition, there are two buildings, respectively bearing the labels Gandhakuti and Kosambakuti. The sculpture bears the label: ‘Anathapindika dedicates Jetavana, purchased with a layer of crores’. The same thems is portrayed in less detail in another sculpture at Budda Gaya. Besides the two buildings, Gandhakuti and Kosambakuti, the original Jetavana is stated to have contained other elegant structures, Kareikuti, Karerimandalamala and Salalaghara. Salalaghara was erected by king Prasenjita himself, after he became an ardent disciple of the Buddha. The Jetavana scene is also found depicated on an early from the Amaravati stupa site in Andhra Pradesh in South India.
Conversion
of Prasenajita -
In the third rainy season after his enlightenment the Buddha
visited Jetavana, and since then he regularly made his sojoum to the
monastery spending there twenty five rainy seasons in all.
Inspired by the example of his son Jeta.
King Prasenajita visited the Buddha at Jetavana and heard a
sermon which led to his conversion.
Buddhist texts are full of dialogues between the Buddha and
Prasenajita, who cherished an exclusive regard and affection for the
teacher, claiming that he was of the same age as the Buddha and belonged
to the same Kosala country.
One of
the Bharhut sculptures shows the king coming out in procession on a
chariot drawn by four horses to visit the Buddha, whose presence is
indicated by a large wheel. Hiuen Tsang states that near his palace the king built a
‘half of the law’.
Foundation of Purvarama – To the east of the city was situated the monastery known as Purvarama erected by Vishakha, the chief lay female supporter of the lord. She was also known as Migaramata, who had nursed Prasenajita through a severe illness and was the wife of a rich merchant by the name of Purnavardhana. She hada priceless ornament called melapalandana and one day, while listening to a sermon, it was dropped accidentally in the lecture half. Only on her return home did she discover the loss of the valuable piece of jewellery. A search was made and it was found exactly where it had fallen. As it was discoered within the monastery she had no desire to wear it again; so she decided to sell it and with the proceeds build a temple. No one was however wealthy enough to buy it as it was so valuable. There upon she herself purchased it for nine crores of wealth and with the proceeds built this monastery.
The magnificent monastery was to the east of jetavana and hence was called Purvarama. Both Fahien and Hiuen Tsang refer to it, and from all accounts, it was only seconds to Jetavana Mahvihara in extent and elegance, having been erected in wood and stone costing twenty seven crores of god pieces. Bhagwan Buddha spent six out of twenty five rainy seasons of his sojourn at Savatthi at this place.
Conversion of Angulimala - One of the most stirring episodes in the ministry of the Buddha at Shravasti was the conversion of a robber named Angulimala, an oft-told story. Fa-hien and Hiuen Tsang locate the actual spot of the conversion. Angulimala, whose name literally means ‘finger-garland’, was a wicked man who harassed the city and the country killing people and cutting a finger of each person killed in order to make a garland for the presentation to his Guru as Guru Dakshina (Gifts by a disciple on the completion of his course to his teacher.) He was about to kill his own mother in order to make up the required number of fingers when the Buddha intervened and converted him. The erstwhile robber was even admitted into the order and attained arahat-ship. But hisearlier record of bad deeds made him a victim of ridicule and stones were thrown at him. Sometimes he went for begging, and by these events the Buddha often showed him as an instance of inevitableness of the fruits of evil-doing.
Rajakarama - The monastery erected by king Prasenajita of Kosala was known as Rajakarama but we do not know of its location. Probably it lies still buried under the ruins of the ancient city, in the part of which presently known as Kandbari Village.
Great Miracle - Prasenajita, who had embraced the “Dhamma”i.e., the Buddha’s teachings and regularly visited the Buddha at Jetavana, was confronted with a challenge from his former co-adherents of the Jaina and Ajivika faiths to prove how the Buddha excelled them in miraculous powers. The Buddha accepted the challenge on the king’s behalf and fixed a place and time for the exhibition. Accounts vary considerably regarding the details, but the main facts stated are thate the Buddha caused a mango tree to sprout up in a day and under it created a huge array of representations of himself, seated and standing on lotuses and causing fire and water ot emanate from his body. Sculptural representations of the Miracle are profuse in Buddhist art. Hiuen Tsang refers to a stupa at Shravasti as marking the site where Buddha outwitted his opponents, but it also stated that it was Shariputtra, the disciple, who was challenged and he also excelled. The stupa built on the spot of this event is known these days as ‘Orajhar’.
Jainas and Ajivikas at Shravasti – Shravasti was not only the capital of a-powerful kingdom but was also the home of philosophical speculations, where a number of schools of thought were already established even before the advent of Bhagwan Buddha. Mahavira, the twenty fourth and the last Jaina Tirthankara, had a great following particularly among wealthy merchants and bankers. Prasenjit too was initially one of his followers. Enjoying patronage, Mahavira also built a stronghold for his faith at Shravasti which was also the birth place of two other Tirthankaras, Sambhavanatha (third) and Chandraprabha (eighth), events which added to its attraction for the Jainas.
Before Bhagwan Buddha’s arrival in the city it was the stronghold of the Ajivikas, a sect which differed little from that of the Jainas, Gosala Makkhaliputtra, their great leader, was born at Saracana, a settlement in the city and spent his whole life amidst the potters of the city who were his ardent admirers. His colleague was Purna Kashyapa of whom it is recorded that, unable to bear the shame of defeat at the hands of the Buddha in religious disputation, he committed suicide.
During the time of Ashoka - After the age of the Buddha and Mahavira the history of Shravasti is obscure till we come to the period of Ashoka in the third century B.C. At the time of Ashoka the whole country reached the zenith of its greatness. According to several accounts, Ashoka visited Jetavana at Shravasti too when he undertook a country-wide pilgrimage (dharmayatra) to the holy spots of Buddhism. At this place also he left some monument to signfy his attachment to the religion. Hiuen Tsang states that Ashoka erected two pillars, each 70 ft. high, on the left and right sides of the eastern gate of jetavana by a buil. The same authority adds that in the vicinity he built a stupa to enshrine the relics of Buddha adjoining a well from which Buddha used to have water drawn and a place where he used to walk and preach. The Buddhist Texts state that the emperor worshipped at the stupas of Shariputra, maudgalyayana, Mahakashyapa and Ananda. The material prosperity of Shracasti was at its height in Ashoka’s time According to inscriptional evidence the city was administered by a council of ministers (mahamatras) and that large store-houses were built along the highways in and around the city.
Under the Kushans - During the early centuries of the Christian era, when the Kushans were holding sway, Buddhism became a popular religion with royal suppot. The monasteries and shrines of Jetavana were resuscitated. A scholl of Sarcastivadings flourished here. New stupas and shrines were erected and images of the Buddha installed. Most of them survive to this day in their ruins. Of the images found here one is a seated statue of Bodhisattva which was the gift of two Kshatriya brothers. Another is a life size standing image of Bodhisatva set up in the reign of a Kushana King, either Kanishka or Huvishka. It was installed in Kosambakuti of Jetavana by one Bhikshu Bala. Who was well versed in the Tripataka. The third is an image of Buddha seated in the abhayamudra on a lion throne, a gift of Sihadeva, a pravarika of Saketa (Ayodhya). As was the custom of those days all the statues bear inscriptions recording the respective donations.
Under the Guptas - Although a vigorous Brahmanical revival took place all over the country with the advent of the Guptas, the Buddhist establishments at Jetavana remained as prosperous as before, though in the city of Shravasti Buddhist edifices decayed and some of them were superimposed by Brahmanical temples. Fa-hien, who visted the place in the early fifthcentury A.D., describes the remains as he saw them. Thus, he locates the ruins of the Stupas of Sudatta and Angulimala and the vihara of Mahaprajapati in the city of Shravasti, adding that the Brahmanas had unsuccessfully attempted to destroy these buildings. In the ruins at Shravasti, which are generally belived to mark these spots, a large number of terracotta plaques depicting some scenes from the Ramayana were discovered, partly confirming Fa-hien’s statement about assertion of Brahmanism at the expense of Buddhism. A certain Bikaramaditya of Shravasti is mentioned by Hiuen Tsang as a king of wide reknown byt unfriendly to the shramanas. The pilgrim does not specify the king’s lineage, but it is possible that he was a Gupta ruler.
We take it is privilege to receive vistors from distant places and abroad. In the century A.D., at Jetavana, Fa-hien was received by the priests with great wonder that men from the frontiers of the earth should come so far as this’, and that neither they nor their predecessors at the monastery till then had seen men of Han come so far’. The pilgrim saw two huge pillars at the eastern entrance to the vihara and a number of stupas and shrines set amidst ‘clear water of the tanks, luxuriant groves and numberless flowers of variegated colours. He also saw a chapel of two storeys, where according to him Bhagawan Buddha spent twenty five out of forty five rainy seasons of his life, and records that this chapel was originally seven storeys high and that when it was later burnt down by accident the building of two storeys was taken up as replacement. Outside Jetavana the pilgrim recognised the ruins of Purvarama built by lady Vishakha.
Among the other buildings seen by him were those erected to commemorate the places where the Buddha walked and preached and where the Buddha defeated men from ninety six heretical schools. The latter was a huge structure 70 ft. high with a seated figure of the Great Master.
Almost all the present ruined structures show the style and ornamentaion of the Gupta period. In every building hage been found some vestiges of the Gupta period among which clay sealings and tablets inscribed with the Buddhist creed were numerous.
Hiuen Tsang - King Harsha (606-647 A.D.) was an ardent Buddhist. Hiuen Tsang visited Shravasti in the regin of king Harsha and found it a wild ruins still inhabited by Buddhists byt the majority was of non-Buddhists. The city was politically the headquarters of an administrative division under the suzerainty of Harsha, being mentioned as such in a copperplate charter issued by him. Among the deserted buildings which Hiuen Tsang found were the stupas of Sudatta and Angulimala and the vihara of Prajapita Bhikshuni, all seen earlier by Fa-hien. In addition ot these, Hiuen Tsang noticed the ruins of the ‘half of law’.
During the two centuries which elapsed between Fa-hien’s visit to India in 5th century A.D. and Hiuen Tsang’s in the 7th century A.D. Jetavana had so munch decayed that there was none living in the monasteries at the time of the latter. The few edifices that could still be recognised by him were the two pillars of Ashoka and a solitary brich temple with an image of the Buddha. In the environs of Jetavana Hiuen Tsang saw the towering vihara also noticed by Fa-hien. In addition, Hiuen Tsang recounts a few more ruined stupas marking certain incidents in Buddha’s life at Shravasti.
Later history – Shortly after Hiuen Tsang’s visit there appears to have been a revival of activitly at Jetavana. A number of inscribed sealings and Buddhist sculptures have been found here which belong to the eighth and ninth centuries. The images are of Lokanatha, Trailokyavijaya, Avalokiteshvara, Simhanada Lokeshvara and Jambhala. Some of these bear Nagari inscriptions.
Hardly any recorded information exists regarding Shravasti in the centuries following the visit of Hiuen Tsang. Some kings connected with Shravasti find mention in later literary works. The last of these kings was Suhriddhvaja, who is supposed to have fought against Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni and his general Salar Masud early in the eleventh century A.D. The family is credited with having revived Jainism at the place as an evidence of which we may notice a large number of sculptures of Jaina Tirthankaras stylistically assignable to this period found in the ruins of the present Sobhnath temple. The temples is belived to mark the birth place of Sambhavanatha, the third Tirthankara.
City’s last days - There is evidence to show that some Buddhist establishments survived in Jetavana down to the middle of the twelfthe century A.D. This was mainly due to the patronage of the Gahadavala kings of Kanauj, Madanapala and his son Govindachandra. Inscriptions of their reigns were found in Jetavana in a Monastery (Pt. 19) which, to this day, is better preserved than the rest of the ruins, Madanpala’s recorf, which is dated Samvat 1176 (A.D. 1119), records that the king’s minister Vidyadhara, forsaking the Saiva religion, devoted his wealth to the foundation the vihara at Jetavana. The other record, of the reign of Govindachandra (A.D. 1129-30), conveys the royal gift of six villages around Shravasti to Buddhabhattarka and other monks of Jetavana Mahavihara. It is not improbable that this liberal gift was largely due to the inducement of Govindachandra’s Buddhist queen Kumaradevi, whose benefactions to the Buddhist vihara at Samath are well known.
The history of Shravasti thereafter is quite unknown. Vestiges of Muslim rule in the area are, however, found. One is a tomb belived to be the remains of a Miran, the first Muslim governor of the place Another is a domed edifice, apparently also a tomb, superimposed on the temple of Sobhnath. But the ruins of Sahet-maheth remained long forgotten until they were brought to light and identified with ancient Shravasti by Cunningham in 1863 A.D.
JETAVANA (SAHET)
Within a furlong to the north of the Balrampur Bahraich road lie the ruins of the Buddhist establishment of Jetavana. An approach road touches the site at a few points, from where it is linked to the inspection paths leading ot the monuments within. The visitor may state from the south and after havinga view of the ruins leave the mound at the north, from where the road will then take him to Maheth the other site of the old city. The buildings of Jetavana are described in that order below as stated. Upto 16, the numbers assigned to the structures are those given by Cunningham, who first excavated the mound in 1863 A.D. Numbers beyond, as well as those marked A,B etc. denote buildings excavated by Vogel, Marshall and Daya Ram Sahni during 1907-08 and 1910-11.
Temples 11 and 12 – These two buildings, which face north, are identical on plan, each consisting of a central chamber, about 7 ft. Square internally, and two side-rooms each with the inside dimensions of 10 ft. by 9 ft. The rooms are arranged in a line east to west with their entrances facing north. The central chamber has an ambulatory passage around it, thus indication that it must have housed an image. The side-rooms may have been used as shrines for other deities or as residences of the attendant priests. No evidence is available to fix the age of original foundation of the structures.
Temple and Monastery - A little to the west lies this structure, with its entrance on the east. It is one of the largest buildings at Jetavana and contains a shrine, a well within the coutyard, twenty one cells for the use of monks and a portico. The structure seems to have been rebuilt three times on practically the same foundations. The earliest building at the site, of which portions of the wall are visible, is referable to about the sixth century A.D. The wall is moulded in the Gupta style with the characteristic offsets of double courses of bricks.
An antiquity of this period discovered in one of the cells of the monastery is a clay tablet representing Buddha seated in dharamachakra-mudra and containing the Budhhist creed in three lines in the Gupta script. The next edifice built on the same foundations is assignable to the tenth century A.D. Among the finds of this period recovered at the site are a number of Buddha images, of which one is in bhumisparsha-mudra with Avalokitesvara and Maitreya carved in miniature as attendants. Another sculpture shows the Buddha receiving a bowl from a monkey. This refers to the famous incident of the presentation of honey by a monkey to the Buddha at Vaishali. Both the sculptures bear inscriptions in a script assignable to the ninth or tenth century A.D.
The latest construction, the plan of which is intact, belongs to the eleventh-twelth century A.D. The plan shows a square with the side measuring 118ft. The inner arrangement of the building corresponcs to the typical designof monasteries-an open countryard in the centre surrounded by rows of cells on all sides preceded by corridors. The central chamber in the row facing the entrance forms the shrine and is situated directly opposite the main entrance-gate, so that the statue that it enshrined was the first object coming to the view of the visitor across the courtyard. In front of it is an antechamber and the other sides are surrounded by a circumambulatory passage, to provide space for which the back wall of the monastery projects in the middle behind the shrind. The verandah in front of the rows of cells is separated from the countyard by a low wall, on which possibly rested wooden columns supporting the roof of the varandah. The floor of the varandah and courtyard is paved in lime concrete.
The monastery contains altogether twentyfour rooms. One of them forms the entrance-hall and contains in the middle brick bases of two rows of columns which were evidenty of wood. The rooms are small, and one of them is provided with a bed in the form of a brick bench about 4 ft. high built along the west wall. In one of the cells was found an inscribed copper-plate charter of Govindachandra of Kanauj of A.D. 1130 reconrding the grant of six villages around Shravasti to the monks of Jetavana-mahavihara. This valuable information establishes the identity of the Sahet site with Jetavana and indicates that Buddhism survived here till at least the twnlfh century A.D.
The eight stupas - The adjacent area to the east and north-east of Monastery 19 seems to have been specially utilized for the erection of stupas, of which eight are visible. One of them, 10 was probably held more sacred than the rest, for it shows renovation. Its original structure was enlarged by the addition of an outer brick casing of which the plinth is well-mounded. The stupa yielded an inscrlbed sealing containing the name of Buddhadeva in characters of the fifthe century A.D. To the north-west of the these stupas lies an octagonal well.
Temples 6 and 7 - To the north of the octagonal well are the remains of two temples, of which one, 6, faces the north and the other, 7, has entrance on the east. The latter is bigger and better preserved and contains a shrine-room about 12 ft. square, Within the room is a low brick pedestal, 4 ft. 6 in. board, facing the entrance and extending across the whole breadth of the room against the wall.
Stupas 17 and 18 – On the east of the aforesaid shrines lies Stupa 17. This structure consists of a square plinth and a round drum over it, the transition from to the round being cleverly contribed by offsets at the corner rising in concentric curves towards the drum. The plinth is 21/1/2 ft. square and the drum about 19 ft. in diameter. These visible portions are medieval additions, of which the earlier comprising the plinth stands to a height of 2 ft. The floor surrounding it is composed of lime concrete. The lower portions of the stupa below the concrete floor-level were not exposed, but in order to findout the depth of the structure the stupa was opened on the top and a shaft was sunk at its centre to a depth of about 7 ft. below the level of the surrounding surface. At this depth a relic-pot containing a gold wire and bead and other crystal objects were discovered. As the finds are approximately referable to the Kushan period the protions of the structure beneath the surface-level may be the same age, i.e., the first century A.D.
The adjacent Stupa 18, is smaller, being 14 ft. square with a projection of 2 ft. on the east side. A shaft sunk from the top centre to a depth of 5 ft. led to the discovery of an inscribed relic-bowl containing fragments of bone, stone beads and peals. The inscription on the bowl contained the name of Bhadanta Buddhadeva in Kushan chracters.
Stupa 5 - A conical mound, 30 ft. high, which covered this stupa wasmost conspicuous in Jetavana when Cunningham first started to clear it. He exposed the top of the structure, which was in the shape of a hemispherical stupa, and below it a square room and, on finding that the latter had no opening, considered it to be the basement of the stupa. The square structure is a solid brick basement 25 ft. on each side. However, complete clearance laid bare two terraces, the lower one 83 ft. by 71 ft. and 4 ft. high. On this was found erected at a later date another terrace, 58 ft. by 50 ft., having a projection with terraced steps on the east. Over the upper terrace stood the square structure which Cunningham had exposed. On a minute examination it was found that the east wall of this edifice bore marks of an entrance. Hence it would appear that the room must have been originally s shrine, which was later converted into a stupa by closing the entrance. Votive offerings of clay sealings inscribed with the Buddhist creed were found deposited at the foot of this closed entrance. The original and earlier stupa undermeath all these later erections is therefore, hidden. It would appear that originally there was a stupa here; on this was erected a shrine, which again was converted into a stupa. The earlier stupa is referable to the Kushan age. The clay sealings found on the top are assignable to different dated from the eight to the tenth century A.D.
The bodhi-tree and double stupa - This Bodhi tree stands immediately in front of the ruins of the Jetavana monastery and, from its hoaryappearance and the great height, we may safely conclude that it was the very tree which stood there at the time of the Buddha, though of course, we cannot be so positive about this as in the case of the tree at Anuradhapure (in Sri Lanka). Record of its history ever since it was planted.
The following is the story of the plantation of the Ananda Bodhi as given in Pujavaliya, a Sinhalese classic.
In spite of the many amenities available at the Jetavana monastery. Lord Buddha spent there only three months in the year viz. during the rainy season, and during the other nine months, he was away on tour carrying the message of hope he had discoered to each and every hamlet of the vast country. His followers in Savatthi desired his permanent residence in the city but this being impossible they begged him for some token so that they may at least venerate it during his absence. To satisfy the craving of the people, Ananda obtained the Lord’s permission to plant a sapling of the Buddhagaya Bodhi tree. Mahamoggallana, who was famous for his supernatural power, volunteered to bring the sapling. It was the wish of every one that king Pasenadi should plant it by the declined the honour saying that the tenure of kings was uncertain the honour saying that the tenure of kings was uncertain and his successors may take care of it for all time to come. There upon Anathapindika was selected for the honour and, with great ceremonies, he planted it in front of the monastery he himself had built. Lord Buddha blessed and sanctified it by passing one whole night near it in meditation. From that time, it took the place of the Teacher during his absence for the devotees to make their offerings.
A double stupa, now visible as, two rectangular rooms marked O on the plan, lies to the east of the bodhi-tree plarform. The stupas rise to a height of about 4 ft. They are of the usual cruciform type and posses relicchambers 61/2 ft. square. To the east of these stupas is juxtaposed a building, of which the extant walls are 5 ft. high and are constructed of finely-jointed bricks of a large size.
Temple 3 - Temple 3 lies about 250 ft. to the north of the bodhi-tree and faces east. It is one of the most sacred edifices in Jetavana and is belived to mark the very spot where stood the original Kosamba Kuti built by Anathapindaka and hallowed by the personal use of Bhagwan Buddha. In front of the temple are two brick terranes erected on the original promenade (chankama) used by the Buddha for his walks.
A large Boddhisatva image discovered near the building bears an inscription of the first century A.D. It is recorded that the statue ws set up at the chankama of the Buddha at Kosambakuti by Bala in the regin of a Kushan king. Hiuen Tsang (seventh century A.D.) saw the image within a small brick temple which rose alone amidst the surrounding ruins’.
The dimensions of the brick temple, of which only the basement and walls of the central shrine room and a mandapa in front are now seen, are 19 ft. by 18 ft. square and walls 4 ft. thick, occupying the western half. There seems to have been an earlier shrine on the spot before this edifice was erected as indicated by the remnants of a ruined wall on the north and west sides on a lower level than the persent building. A stupa with a square base and circular drum is juxtaposed to the temple on the north west.
In front of the Kosambakuti temple and on its south-east and northeast we find two brick terraces. The south-east one is 10 ft. board and 4 ft. high and runs in an easterly direction to a length of about 53 ft. It is ascended from the north by a flight of steps built on to the middle of its face. Directly opposite lies the other terrace at a slight distance, similarly laid lengthwise from west to east, 61 ft. long and 5 ft. broad. The shrine and the terraces stand on the site of the Kosambakuit and chankama mentioned in the inscription on the Bodhisartive image discovered in the very area.
Temple – 2 About 200 ft. to the north of Temple 3 is situated Temple 2, the original temple called Gandhakuti. This temple was built by Anathapindika when he laid the Jetavana monastery. Gandhakuti was, like Kosambakuti, one of the most sacred Temples in Jetavana, having been hallowed by the personal use of the Buddha. The present structure is a late renovation, of which only the low walls and plinths are extant. The lowermost visible portions are assignable to the Gupta period. It is belived that Gandhakuti was at one time of wooden structure of seven storeys and that it enshrined a sandalwood image of the Buddha. Fa-hien saw, however, only a brick building of two storeys and according to the information gathered by him, the wooden one having been burnt down. Hiuen Tsang found the brick structure in utter ruins. Mangala Sutta and many other Suttas the Enlighttened one had delivered while he was at this Gandhakuti. Throughout the World, the Buddhists remember this place always.
The remains of a shrine and an assembly-hall in front of it with entrances on the east are the most conspicuous portions of the ruins. Remmants of a staircase giving access to the assembly hall are also visible. The shrine-room is small, 9 ft. 6 in square, and contains a low brick platform about 5 ft. in whdth extending north to south along the rear wall of the room. Evidently it is the pedestal of a large statue of the later time. The walls enclosing the room are massive, being about 6 ft. thick. The sanctum is entered through a central passage about 8 ft. in length. There was a concreate pavement all around the shrine and a mandapa covering the space up to the outer enclosure-wall. This 8 ft. thick wall is 115 ft. long from east to west and 89 ft. from north to south. When the pavement was cut open to expose the foundations, a plinth, 75 ft. long and 57 ft. broad, was laid bare. This occupies the area between the outer wall and the shrine leacing some space for passage all round. The outer facings of the plinth are moulded and the corners adomed with ornamental brick projections. The spaces between the corners are decorated with shallow panels with low pilasters of brickwork. The temple on the whole is the most ornamental of the buildings at Jetavana and as, it stands on the spot of the original Gandhakuti it is quite appropriate that special care was bestwed on its decoration.
Cunningam located Jetavana immediately to the east of this temple. Fa-hien mentions the main entrance to Jetavana being on the east. Excacations carried out later in the approaches to the temple from the east confirmed it, as an approach-road laid in concrete was traced in an easterly direction for a distance of about 220 ft. The width of the road could not, however, be ascertained owing to the superimposition of a row of later chambers along its south side. The construction of the road is assignable to the Kushan period, taking into a account that the adjacent monasteries F and G, rising, belong to this period as has been determined from the finds discovered in them.
Stupa H - This stupa seems to have been vested with particular sanctity, for it was not only rebuilt several times but is also located in front of the sacred Gandhakuti and is placed in the middle of the main road approaching this famous shrine. Portions of this stupa may well go back to the Gupta period, and its lowest foundations are likely to have been of a still earlier date. Its extant square base measures 16 1/2 ft. along each side.
It is a late construction standing on an earlier struction, of which the plinth, 20ft. square, is visible on the four sides. This is found encased by another wider plinth 37 ft. along each side. This again has a casing, the plinth of which is oblong on plan and measures 60 ft. north of south and 51 ft. east to west. It is characterized by the use of large-sizec bricks (17 in- 12 in.- 3/1/2 in.).
Monasteries F and G - These two early monasteries are situated east of Temple 2, the supposed Gandhakuti. They have their entrances from the south led by steps from the ancient concrete paved road described above. The entrances are flanked by small oblong chambers. Monastery G, oblong on plan, is larger than the square-Monastery F. Accordingly, they also differ from each other in the internal arrangement of the rooms, Exculding the entrance-hall, Monastery G has 26 cell of varying dimensions with the usual varandah running all along in front of them. Several alterations were effected to the original building and a few additions mad, one of them being the extension of the monastery towards the north, thus providing a few additional cells. A large brick platform placed at the farther side of the countryard and facing the entrance seems to be the basement of a shrine.
Monastery F, the smaller building, has twenty two cells and an entrance-hall flanked by the oblong chambers. The rooms are smaller than those of G. The flooring of both the monastries in the cells, as well as in the countyards, was found laid in bricks of the same size as those used in the wall. In the course of successive excavations at the monastery site a major portion of the flooring was removed.
The datable material, mostly coins, found in these two buildings enables their assignment ot at least the Kushan period. As many as one hundred and fifty coins of that dynasty, including coins of Kanishka, Huvishka and Vasudeva, were found in a pot unearthed in a cell, 15, of Monastery F. The monasteries seem to have been inuse in the Gupta period as well, for a large collection of terracottas and inscribed seal-matrices of the period were picked up from both the buildings. Two of the matrices have the legend Sanidasa and Matrisya (?) respectively.
Stupa 8 – Situated close to Monastery G on its west, this structure consists of two stupas erected one over the other in different periods. An inscribed Bodhisattva image found here indicates approximately the period during which the stupas were under worship. In that it bears two separate inscriptions, the earlier of which, written in Kushan chrracters and contemporary with the sculpture, records that it was set up in Jetavana of Shravasti by two brothers, one of whom was Shivadhara, and that a sculptor of Mathura made it, and the later one. Incised below, is in the script of the ninth-tenth century A.D. and only contains the Buddhist creed.
The upper stupa, when it was fully exposed, stood 6ft. high and 16 ft. square. On each of its sides the outer facing is moulded with a shallow projection. Below it is the earlier stupa with a circular plan of larger dimensions.
Adjacent to Stupa 8, on its west, are remains of a similar medieval stupa 9; the only noteworthy fact about it is that it yielded a sculpture of exceptional interest, a statue of the Buddha in the round seated on a lion throne in adhyamudra. The pedestal of the status bears an inscription stating that it was the pious gift of one Sihadeva, a pravanika, of Saketa. This script of the record is referable to the late Kushan period, i.e. about the second century A.D.
Temple and the monastery 1 - This is another large building in Jetavana (pl. I) and is ituated at the northern end of the site, beyond which lie the open fields. The monastery faces east and has a shrine and mandapa set in the middle of its coutyard. The construction of the temple is assignable to approximately the latest building epoch of the place. The monastery is laid on the ususal plan, viz a central courtyard surrounded on all sides by rows of cells with a varandah in front, the pillars of which are set on a low plinth wall. The monastery has its own wellwithin the courtyard. The central chamber of the eastern row of rooms is the largest of all chambers and forms the entrance-hall, leading into the courtyard. Its roof seems to have been carried on four colmns standing in the middle of the hall, the bases of which, constructed of bricks, being the only visible remains. The pillars, like those of the varandah, were presumably of wood. The floors, both of the cells and the courtyard, are laid in concrete.
With the temple and mandapa in the middle of the open courtyard, the plan of this monastery differs from that of 19, which follows the pattern of having the shrine laid across the courtyard and occupying the chamber in the opposite row of rooms facing the entrance. An interesting feature of the mandapa of the monastery is that at its fronts there appears to have been a porch with an interesting sloping floor, 17 ½ ft by 7 ½ ft. The roof of the porch was carried on four piers, two brick bases of which now remain. The porch intervenes between the mandapa and the passage leading into the sanctum.
SHRAVASTI CITY (MAHET)
Gates of city-wall - Leaving Jetavana by the north the visitor can proceed to the site of the ancient city by taking the road which enters it by the Sobhnatha Gate, one of the openings made in recent past in the high rampart the encompasses the city. As he approaches the gate he will not fail to notice the huge mud-fortifications, which run along a circuit on 31/4 miles having the formation of a semi-circular crescent. The inward curve of the crescent faces north-east along the old bank of the Achiravati (Rapti) river, which in ancient times flowed past in a south-easterly direction. Hiuen Tsang’s statement that the royal precincts had a circuit of 20li agrees with that the present city-site bounded by the fortifications.
The rampart varies considerably in height, the longer curve of the crescent on the east, where the existence of the river obviously rendered a great height superfluous. The top of the rampart is everywhere strewn with bricks of a large size, evidently the remnants of the crowning parapets and battlements. In the rampart there are many opening giving access to this interior, some representing the old city-gates and the others being merely gaps or depressions. The former are distinguished by high flanking bastions. Four of these openings viz., lmli Darwaza, Rajgarth Drawaza, Naushara Darwaza and Kand Bhari Darwaza, situated respectively at the south-west, north-west, north-east and south-east corners of the city-wall, may possibly represent real gates of the ancient city, their present names being due to local usage.
All the entrances are more or less designed and laid out on the same lines. To give an idea of their structure it would suffice to describe one of them. Viz., the lmli Darwaza, which is within easy reach of the Sobhnath temple, by which the road passes. This gate, about 25 ft. wide, is a passage into the city running in an easterly direction and is flanked on the north and south by two high bastions each about 45 ft. high. On the top of these of these are remains of brick platforms, which probably mark watch-towers. The bastions have flanking walls. In front of the gate are ruins of what may be supposed to be a guard-room, in which were discovered about five hundred inscribed clay sealings. The Rajgarth Darwaza on the north-west has the highest extant bastions, rising to a height of about 65 ft.
Sobhnatha Temple of Jains - As one enters the percents of the western part of the city from Jetavana, the building that comes to view is the temple of Sobhnatha set on a high mound. The spot is hallowed as the birth-place of Sambhavanatha, the third Jaina Tirthankara. The domed temple of lakhaun bricks which crowns the western part of the structure is, however, a late superimposition of the late medieval period and evidently entombs a Muslim celebrity, Below the structure are the remains of the Jaina temple, the ruins of which consist of a mass of structures of different periods and of uncertain lay-out. The eastern portion consists of a rectangular concrete-paved courtyard measuring 59 ft. from east to west and 49 ft. from north to south. A brick wall containing small-carved bricks of a type found in medieval brick temples encloses it. The interior lace of the wall is provided with a series of niches intended for the reception of statues, of which a large number were actually found in the courtyard during excavations. There are remains of two rectangular rooms on the northwest and southwest comers of the enclosure, and they are also paved with concrete on the site. The northwestern room yielded an image of Rishabhadeva, the first Jaina Tirthankara. The courtyard is entered from the east by a fight of steps, the lower landing of which rests on another platform farming the floor of another front courtyard.
ANGULIMALA STUPA
Pakki Kuti - From the Sobhnatha temple the road leads to Pakki Kuti, which is one of the two largest mounds inside, the other being Kachchi Kuti. The modern name Pakki Kuti is supposed to be derived from the fact that a Muslim mendicant had once made the mound his residence, though its ancient chracter is no way in doubt. Cunningham proposed to identify if with the remains of the stupa of Angulimala seen by the Chinese pilgrims. Hoey, however, adduced reasons for regarding it as the ruins of the ’hall of the law’ which king Prasenjita is stated to have built for the Buddha. But the general lay-out, which is its most interesting feature, the central cruved eall and the total absence of any provision for doors and windows would point to its being nothing else than a stupa. The adjuncts to the central curved wall on all sides from a curious medley of irregular brick wall built at right angles to each other, the framework meant to be filled in with earth to make the structure solid. Hoey cut a tunnel through the whole mound at the bottom to serve as a drain helping to preserve the mounument. The arches in the wall a little above surface are his devices to prop up each wall that he cut through. No datable finds of any value were recovered in the ruins.
SUDATTA STUPA
Kachchi Kuti - This mound of ruins, situated a few yards to the south-east of Pakki Kuti, is the most imposing munument in this area. It owes its modern name to renovation in Kachcha brick made to the topmost shrine by a sadhu who lived there. The ruins present structural remains of different periods, of which the earlist is assignable to the Kushan period and the latest to about the twelth century A.D. Owing to the different strata comprising them the building presents a very complicated structure. A grand plinth, measuring 105 ft. from east to west and 12 ft. from north to south and approached from the west by a flight of steps 45 ft. long and 14 ft. wide with a curved outline at the lower end. Presents the most prominent view. Itrests for the major portion on an earlier square plinth of about 5 ft. high, which is all that remains of what might have been a fairly imposing building structure of the Kushan period. Underneath the plinth, at its north-west corner, are the basements of two circular stupas, which furnish the only evidence of a Buddhist structure at the site, a fact which may be quoted in support of their identify with the ruins of the stupa of Sudatta mentioned by the Chinese pilgrims. Before the grand plinth was erected on the remains of the earlier one, the latter itself seems to have served as the basement of a typical Gupta shrine, the walls of which, containing decorations of moulded bricks and cornices supported by pilasters alternating with square panels menat for the reception of terracotta plaques, can be seen.
From Kachchi Kuti there are pathways leading to the city-gates Naushara Darwaza and Kand Bhari Darwaza.
