Tribes in Ancient India c50.270

c50.270

Rājagṛha was intimately associated not only with the development of Buddhism, but also with its rival religion, Jainism, and with earlier popular creeds such as Nāga- and Yakkha- worship. Nāgas and Yakkhas were popular objects of veneration in Rājagṛha in early times; while old ruined temples of Gaṇeśa and Śiva still remain on Vaibhāra-giri. Rājagṛha was popularly known to have been so much under the influence of such malevolent spirits as Nāgas and Yakṣas that even the Buddhist bhikkhus had to be furnished with a Paritta or ‘saving chant’ in the shape of the Mahā-ātānāṭiya Suttanta for their protection against them.¹ The tapodas or hot springs and the Tapodā or Sarasvatī carrying water from those hot springs were popularly regarded as puṇyatīrthas or places for holy ablutions.² The hot springs of Rājagṛha survive today.