Rajgir and Gridhrakuta

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  WHAT IT IS: The venerated granite summit of Gridhrakuta (Vulture Peak) where Gautama Buddha stayed during many rainy-season retreats, and where, in the Mahayana tradition, he taught the Sutras of transcendent wisdom. Shaped like a resting vulture or a crown, it stands as the heart of what Mahayana tradition calls the Second Turning of the Wheel of Dharma, the phase of teaching that moved beyond the Buddha's first sermons into these deeper wisdom discourses.
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  WHY VISIT / CHANT: Clears away the veils of the mind, awakens insight into emptiness, called Sunyata, nurtures universal compassion, called Bodhicitta, and gives the merit of walking where Arhats and the Tathagata meditated.
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  WHEN TO VISIT: October to March offers serene, pleasant weather for mountain ascent. Auspicious periods include Buddha Purnima in April or May, Asadha Purnima in July, which begins the rains retreat, and Magha Purnima.
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  WHERE: Rajgir, Nalanda District, Southern Bihar, India. Set among the hills that ring Rajgir, and reachable from Patna Airport or Gaya Airport.
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  HOW (VIDHI & RULES):
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  Yatra Sequence: Begin at Venuvana, the bamboo grove monastery, ascend the ancient stone path to Gridhrakuta Peak, circumambulate the platform of the Buddha's chamber, called the Gandhakuti, meditate at the caves of the Venerables Sariputta and Ananda, and conclude at the Vishwa Shanti Stupa on Ratnagiri Hill.
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  Parikrama Rules: Perform clockwise circumambulation, called Pradakshina, around the platform of the Gandhakuti while chanting the Heart Sutra or Namo Buddhaya.
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  Temple Dress Code: Modest attire covering shoulders and knees. Remove footwear before stepping onto the brick platform of the Gandhakuti.
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  Offerings: Fresh lotus flowers, incense and lamps.

Rajgir, known in the Pali scriptures as Rajagaha, was the capital of Magadha in the Buddha's time. The Isigili Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 116, names the five hills around it: Vebhara, Pandava, Vepulla, Gijjhakuta and Isigili. Among these rugged outcrops, Gijjhakuta, or Gridhrakuta, is so named because its rock resembles a vulture's head and because vultures frequented its crags. It became one of the Buddha's most cherished dwelling places during his sojourns in Magadha.

In the Mahayana tradition, Gridhrakuta is the setting of the Second Turning of the Wheel of Dharma. While the First Turning at Sarnath revealed the Four Noble Truths, the discourses of Vulture Peak are held to unfold the teaching on emptiness, called Sunyata, and the universal potential for Buddhahood. Before an assembly of Arhats, Bodhisattvas and devas, the Buddha is said to have taught the Prajnaparamita Sutras, among them the Heart Sutra, and the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra, the Lotus Sutra.

In the opening chapter of the Lotus Sutra, and again in chapter 16, Vulture Peak is presented as a place where the Buddha continues to teach beyond the limits of time. The Chinese pilgrims Faxian in the 5th century CE and Xuanzang in the 7th century CE are recorded to have visited the peak and offered devotion there.

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  Bhagavan Shakyamuni Buddha: Stayed at Rajagaha during several rains retreats, teaching the Middle Way.
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  Venerables Sariputta and Mahamoggallana: The two chief disciples, whose lives were closely linked with Rajagaha.
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  King Bimbisara of Magadha: A devoted patron, who gave the Sangha the Veluvana grove and is remembered for the path by which he visited the Blessed One.
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  Acharya Nagarjuna (2nd Century CE): The great teacher of the Madhyamaka philosophy, who expounded the Prajnaparamita teachings.
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  Xuanzang, 7th Century CE: The revered Chinese pilgrim who climbed Gridhrakuta, offered flowers and recorded his visit.
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  Most Ven. Nichidatsu Fujii, known as Fujii Guruji: The 20th-century Japanese Buddhist master who inspired the Vishwa Shanti Stupa on the adjoining Ratnagiri peak as a symbol of world peace.

Pilgrims ascending Gridhrakuta meditate upon the essence of transcendent wisdom in the Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra, the Heart Sutra, whose teaching is set on Vulture Peak: