Sravasti

INDIA, Uttar Pradesh

This ancient city was also known as Savatthi, Savatthipura, or Chandrikapuri. Sravasti was one of the five largest cities in India during the time of the Buddha, and it was the place where the Buddha gave the greatest number of discourses. It has become one of the major Buddhist sites. Sravasti was the capital of the kingdom of North Kosala, which was established in the 6th century BCE, North Kosala was one of the two largest kingdoms at that time, together with the kingdom of Magadha located on the opposite bank of the Ganges River.
In the 3rd century BCE, King Asoka (reigned circa 269–232 BCE) visited Sravasti and erected two pillars and a stupa to enshrine the Buddha’s relics. During the Kushan period (circa 1st–3rd century) new temples and stupas were constructed. When the Chinese pilgrim Master Faxian visited Sravasti in the 5th century, the city was decaying with stupas in ruins, but Jetavana Monastery was still inhabited. By the time Chinese pilgrim Master Xuanzang visited the place in the 7th century, the city was so deserted that even Jetavana Monastery was unoccupied. Inscriptions show that the area revived from the 9th to the 12th century, but the city was completely forgotten after that time.
In 1863 British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham discovered the ruins of Sravasti in the villages of Saheth and Maheth on the south bank of the Rapti River in Uttar Pradesh. He excavated Jetavana Monastery and 16 historic sites, mostly stupas and temples, dating from the 5th to the 12th century. Excavation also revealed two Asoka pillars at the eastern gate of Jetavana Monastery. In about 1907, four city gates and foundations of rebuilt city walls were discovered during excavations of the Maheth ruins. This provided confirmation that these ruins were the site of Sravasti, although the palace and city streets have not been found.
Maheth presently covers an area of 162 ha and the historical remains include the city gates, Pakki Kuti (Angulimalya Stupa), and Kacchi Kuti (Anathapindada Stupa or Sudatta Stupa). Saheth is the site of Jetavana Monastery and covers an area of 13 ha. Other major remains include the Ananda Bodhi tree, Kosamba Kuti, and Gandha Kuti. Near Jetavana Monastery there are modern Chinese, Burmese, Thai, Tibetan, and Sri Lankan temples and monasteries.