An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c44.121

v2.c44.121

Of the *stūpas* and associated structures that have been or are believed to have been identified mention may be made of: the *stūpa* of Aśoka to the w. of New Rājagṛha; the Veṇuvana complex between New Rajagṛha and hills comprising the Karaṇḍa tank and the *stūpas* and *vihāra* of Veṇuvana proper; and a *stūpa* ascribed to Ajātaśatru. Excavation at these has not produced any outstanding features; in fact there is hardly anything earlier than post-Gupta times. On the Vaibhāra, the hill to the w. of the n. gate of Old Rājagṛha, there is an excavated Jaina brick temple—the only early Jaina temple at Rajgir—with a central chamber facing e., surrounded by a court which is again flanked on all sides by rows of cells, all originally enshrining images of *tīrthaṅkars*, now mostly missing (R.P. Chanda in *ASI—AR 1925-6*). A Mahādeva temple near by, also of brick, has a *garbha-gṛha* with a flat roof, originally fronted by a *maṇḍapa* with granite pillars. A row of six caves (the number might have been originally seven) in a semicircular bend and a long artificial terrace in front on the n. scarp of the Vaibhāra might be the Saptaparṇi cave where the first Buddhist Council attended by 500 monks was held six months after the death of Buddha. (According to Marshall the Council was held in a specially built hall the ruins of which he identified at the foot of the Vaibhāra further to the w. But all sources refer to Saptaparṇi as a cave and not a hall.) At the s. foot of the Vaibhāra is a group of two rock-cut caves, one of which has fallen and the other has an inscription in characters of about the 4th century A.D., proclaiming that they were excavated by a Jaina monk and contained images of *tīrthaṅkaras*, which carved in low relief, still exist on the interior of the e. face of the wall. According to some, however, the architectural features of the cave betray an earlier date as they resemble those of the Mauryan caves of Barabar and Nagarjuni, not very far off (Saraswati, 1960, p. 503). The second cave, now fallen, was at some stage provided with a portico with a brick pavement and rafters fixed into the outer rock surface.