Savatthi

Sàvatthi was the capital of the Kingdom of Kosala, and according to tradition, the Buddha spent much of the last twenty years of his life in the city. Today the ruins of Sàvatthi form a large crescent of about 5 kilometres long with the Rapti River running along its inner curve. A little to the south of the city are the ruins of the Jetavana, a large monastic complex first established during the Buddha’s time and which continued to function for another 1500 years. Many locations in and around Sàvatthi are mentioned in the Tipitaka and a few of these can still be identified.

Today it is known as Sravasti and there are temples and monasteries in and around Sravasti. One meditation center, known as, the International Buddhist Meditation Center, is huge with several buildings and a marble meditation hall with enough room for 2,000 meditators. The center is run by Maha Upasika Bongkot and about 100 male and female eight precept semi-monastics.

References

‘Sravasti in Ancient India’, Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, 1935.