Names of Ten Chief Disciples of The Buddha – These photos were taken at Daibutsu – The Great Buddha Statue at Bodhgaya in Bihar.
Names of Ten Chief Disciples of The Buddha
‘Daibutsu’ – The Great Buddha, 64-foot Statue
The Great Buddha Statue (Daibutsu– in Japanese) stands on this holy land of Bodhgaya, The place of enlightenment of Gautama Buddha. Bodhgaya is revered as the holiest of the holy by the Buddhists all over the world. In order to pay homage to the enlightened one and to propagate his teachings and to mark as a symbol of peace and happiness – The DAIJOKYO SECT of Nagoya, Japan erected this Great Buddha Statue in meditation pose (Dhyana Mudra) seated on a Lotus in the open air. The statue is a patchwork of blocks of Pink Chunar Sandstone, the Lotus of Yellow Chunar Sandstone and the Pedestal of red Granite Stone. On the either sides of the Great Buddha Statue, the Statues of the Chief Ten Disciples have been erected. The Statue has be designed by the noted famous sculpture – Shri Ganpathy Sathpathy of Mahabalipuram in Chennai, South India and was modelled by the late Shri Rishikesh Dasgupta, a noted sculpture artist from Kolkata. The construction of the Statue was undertaken by M/s. Thakur & Sons, Churar, Uttar Pradesh. It took four years to complete the statue.
The unveiling ceremony of the Great Buddha Statue was held on 18th November, 1989, which was performed by His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama. And the Statues of the 10 disciples was unveiled by then Governor of Bihar Dr. A.R. Kidwai on 20th February, 1996.
The Height of the statue is 64 feet; the Height of the Lotus – 6 feet and the pedestal 10 feet.
– Under the Management of the Daijokyo Buddhish Temple, Bodhgaya
Daibutsu – The Great Buddha Statue
Click to learn more about Daibutsu.
Quotes by Bhagwan Buddha
Ropeway for Vishwa Shanti Stupa, Rajgir
There are two ways to reach the Vishwa Shanti Stupa.
Ropeway or a little steep, well-made path. Cost for ropeway – Rs. 60/per person.
Via path, one may visit Gridhakuta Hill and then Shanti Stupa, or via the ropeway, Shanti Stupa and then via the path to Gridhakuta.
Historical Locations On The Way to Gridhakuta
Click to learn more about Gridhakuta.
Vulture Shaped Rocks at Gridhakuta Hill
Click to learn more about Gridhakuta Hill.
Gridhakuta (Vulture’s Peak) – Here Lord Buddha Spent 14 Years
Although I visited Vishwa Shanti Stupa years ago at Rajgir (Bihar), but was not aware of Gridhakuta (Vulture’s Peak) nearby. Shanti Stupa is made by the Japanese. You may visit via the ropeway (Rs. 60 to and fro) or via a well-made, little, steep path. The path also goes to Gridhakuta. Walking towards Gridhakuta is approx. 20-30-minute journey depending on one’s physical fitness.
During the recent visit, we visited Gridhakuta also known as Vulture’s Peak, because of rocks present there are shaped like Vultures. It is also believed that during Lord Buddha’s meditation, Vultures tried to disturb and by Buddha’s blessings, they turned into rocks.
Arjun Malakar, caretaker of the location for 44 years ,was present and narrated the Brief History of Gridhakuta Hill as follows:
Siddhartha (Lord Buddha), after leaving his home in search of peace, first visited Rajgrih, now known as Rajgi,r surrounded by five hills, but was stopped at the city entrance by Magadh Kingdom soldiers. When the news was heard about a saint’s arrival at the gate, King Bimbisar himself visited and inquired about the saint’s purpose for the visit to the city. Siddhartha narrated his wish to do meditation to attain peac,e and in search of a location for the same.
King Bimbisar had his empire in 36 km. He requested Siddhartha to select any place within 36 km.
Siddhartha, after roaming 36 km, selected this very location, which was a burning place for dead bodies known as Gridhakuta.
Siddhartha was here for six years doing meditation, and after attaining enlightenment, he spent another eight years at this very location. Total of fourteen years he spent at Gridhakuta.
There are four caves at Gridhakuta. Lord Buddha’s disciples – Ananda, Sariputra, Maudgalyayana, and Mahakasyapa meditated within these caves. Ananda Cave is the nearest to the location where Buddha meditated and delivered sermons.
The path toward Lord Buddha’s meditation location was made first by King Bimbisar. One has to pass through two huge rocks to visit the top of Gridhakuta. The current path was made after the visit of Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India.
Devadatta, the cousin of Lord Buddha, hurled a rock at Lord Buddha to kill him. Jeevak Vaidh cured Buddha with Ayurvedic medicines. Devadatta also tried his best to kill Buddha by making Nalagiri elephant drink liquor so that he might kill Lord Buddha, but failed as Nalagiri calmed down and bowed its head to Lord Buddha.
King Bimbisar’s second wife’s grave is also at a nearby hill known as Ratnagiri, but we were advised not to visit alone as it is an out area. Udaygiri is the mountain from where the Sun rises. Devotees visit Gridhakuta to watch the Sun rising from Udaygiri.
Great – said I. Thanks for narrating the beautiful history, and thanks for taking care of the historical location for years. Donations.
Nalanda Mahavihara – One of The Greatest Universities of Ancient World Founded in 413 A.D.
Upon arrival at Nalanda Mahavihara, we were greeted by R. B. Prasad, The guide. An old man having immense knowledge about Nalanda and its History. He enhanced our knowledge as follows:
– This place was visited by Lord Buddha 2500 years ago. Lord Buddha’s first sermon was at Sarnath near Varanasi. Second at Gridhakuta mountain in Rajgir and third at Nalanda. After 1000 years of Lord Buddha, Nalanda University was established by Samrat Kumaragupta in 413 A.D.
– This is an educational location. Chinese traveler Xuanzang visited Nalanda in the 7th Century A.D. and did 15 years of learning. He said that Nalanda had been the center of Buddhist art, culture, and civilization.
– According to Xuanzang, there were three Universities in those times:
1. Takshila (now in Pakistan) 2. Nalanda and 3. Vikramshila in Bhagalpur.
– At Nalanda, the total number of students was 10,000, and the number of teachers was 1,500. They came from different countries for higher studies, such as Tibet, China, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, and Indonesia.
– There were four entrance gates – North, South, East, and West.
– Interviews were taken before admission at the entrance gate. Example: What was the name of this country during the Buddha period?
– Out of 100 students, only 10 were qualified to enterthe University.
– Once admitted to Nalanda University, the study period was 12 years.
A total of 108 subjects were taught at Nalanda. Provisional names – Itihaas, Pali, Sanskrit, Geography, Engineering, Medical, Tantra, Yoga, etc.
– Nagarjuna was the first Vice-Chancellor of Nalanda University. He came from Nagarjunakonda, Andhra Pradesh. He was a great philosopher of Mahayana.
– Aryaveda, Vashubandhu, Dharampala, Suvishnu, Dharamkirti, Sheelbhadra, Atish Deepankar, and Guru Padmasambhava were a few more great scholars who visited Nalanda.
– Nalanda was destroyed and burnt in 1200 A.D. by Bhaktiyar Khilji. 400 it was made, and in 1200 it turned into ruins and ashes. Bhaktiyar Khilji burnt all three libraries. The library was in flame for 6 months.
– Nalanda was earlier known as Kundalpur. Kundalpur was the Jain spot. Lord Mahaveer was born in Kundalpur.
– During the Buddha period, India was known as Jumbu Dweep.
– Hemington Buchanan, a Britisher, first noticed this place. The actual excavation was between 1915 – 1940. Only one km is excavated to date, but it is said that 90% is still to be excavated.
– Buddhaghosa – a famous scholar, said: There were 52 lotus lakes in Nalanda. Lotus is known as Nalam in the Pali language, and Lake as Da, which is why the area is known as Nalanda. Second scholar Huensang wrote – Lord Buddha disciple Sariputra’s village name was Nalo, which is why Nalam and later known as Nalanda.
– Nalanda was a multi-storeyed building made of Chuna, Surkhi, Bel ka Gudda, Chana ka Besan, Urad Dal ka Besan and Gond all mixed together into cement bricks.
– Only 1,000 rooms have been excavated to date, though there are 10,000 rooms. One room for one student was the concept.
The temple inside the University was built by King Ashoka. Dalai Lama visited and offered candles.
– There are also students’ graves who died during their studies at Nalanda University.
Fantastic information. Thanks to R. B. Prasad. He showed us the entrance of a secret location for meditation for four people, temples, multi-story buildings, lecture halls, conference halls, students’ rooms, community cooking hall, toilets, etc, while sharing knowledge about them. We also discuss the song picturization at Nalanda between Dev Anand and Hema Malini from the movie ‘Johny Mera Naam’ during the early 70s. It was a fruitful tour. Knowledge enhanced. Donations.