SHRAVASTHI

Shrāvasthī, a city of ancient India, was one of the six largest cities in India during Gautama Buddha's lifetime. The city was located in the fertile Gangetic plains in the present day's Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh. Jetavana monastery was a famous monastery close to Savatthi.

According to the epic Ramayana, Sravasti was a new city created for Lava (the son of Raghava Rama). Rama divided his Kosala Kingdom into two parts and installed his son Lava at Sravasti and another son Kusha at Kushavati, another town in Kosala. According to the Mahabharata, the origin of Sravasti lies with the legendary king Shravasta. According to Buddhist tradition, the city was called Savatthi because the sage Savattha lived there. Another tradition says there was a caravanserai there, and people meeting there asked each other what they had ("Kim bhandam atthi?"), then replied "Sabbam atthi" (meaning "we have all things", as in everything). And the name of the city was based on the reply.

Savatthi was located on the banks of the river Aciravati (now called the Rapti river). It was the capital city of the kingdom of Kosala, and its king was called Pasenadi, who was a disciple of Buddha. It is a beautiful city with vast amounts of agriculture and diversity. Buddhaghosa says that, in the Buddha's day, there were fifty seven thousand families in Savatthi, and that it was the chief city in the country of Kasi Kosala, which was three hundred leagues in extent and had eighty thousand villages. He stated the population of Sávatthi to have been 180 million. The road from Rajagaha to Savatthi passed through Vesali, and the Parayanavagga gives as the resting places between the two cities: Setavya, Kapilavatthu, Kusinara, Pava and Bhoganagara. Further on, there was a road running southwards from Savatthi through Saketa to Kosambi. Between Saketa and Savatthi was located Toranavatthu.

The Buddha passed the greater part of his monastic life in Savatthi. His first visit to Savatthi was at the invitation of Anathapindika, whom he met in Rajagaha. The main monasteries in Sravasti were the Jetavana and the Pubbarama. Savatthi also contained the monastery of Rajakarama, built by Pasenadi, opposite Jetavana. Not far from the city was a dark forest called the Andhavana, where some monks and nun went to live. Outside the city gate of Savatthi was a fisherman's village of five hundred families

The Chinese Pilgrim Xuanzang found the old city in ruins, but recorded the sites of various buildings. Of the ancient Savatthi the city walls are still standing. Within these, the remains of 3 ancient buildings can be visited: Angulimala's stupa, Anathapindika's stupa, and an old temple dedicated to a Jain Tirthankara. Outside of Savatthi is located the stupa where the Twin Miracle (Pali:Yamaka Patihara) took place. The site of Jetavana monastery is the main pilgrim destination, with meditation and chanting mainly done at the Gandhakuti (Buddha's hut) and the Anandabodhi tree. Buddhist monasteries from the following countries have been constructed at Sravasti: Thailand, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Tibet and China.This place is important from Buddhism point of view because Lord Buddha performed a number of miracles here. It was in Sravasti that He displayed a million fold manifestation of himself. He was seated on a lotus (with thousand petals), with fire and water radiating from His body.

The magical feats exhibited by Lord, while sitting on the lotus, are still narrated by the people of Sravasti. The town also had the fortuity of playing host to Lord Buddha for 24 rainy seasons in the Jetvana Gardens. All the stories associated with Sravasti seem to establish Lord Buddha as a divine personality. Even though there is no evidence for most of the stories related to Sravasti, still the place attracts tourists from far and wide. Age-old stupas, splendid monasteries and a number of temples add to the appeal of Sravasti.