We had left Lucknow after lunch, at about two plus. Lunch was marvelous and I liked especially the bean sprouts that looked like they had a hard time sprouting. They were very unlike the bean sprouts back home where the radicals were longer. The ones we had in Lucknow had just a tip of the radical emerging from the beans but they did really taste good. I wonder if they were bean sprouts at all but if they were not, what were they then? Anyway, back to Sravasti, it was supposed to be the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Kosala. Formally known as Sahet Mahet, it was an important Buddhist site because it was here that Buddha performed some miracles, known to the Buddhist circle as the The Twin Miracles. Being 173 km away, we went through a long, strenuous journey where we passed hamlets and vast padi fields. We spent a night at Hotel Lotus Nikko before visiting the important sites early the next day. Many monasteries built by foreign countries could be found here but we had visited the Burmese monastry to do some dana to the monks there. Dana is an act of generosity and Buddhists offer robes or food to monks since the latter do not have any mean of support. Then, it was off to the Sri Lankan monastry where more dana were made and that was also where we viewed two important sites, one where Devadatta and another where a woman who tried to scandalize Buddha met their separate death. By the way, Devadatta, if I had it right, was Buddha’s cousin who once tried to kill Buddha by hurling a rock at him and intoxicating an elephant so that it would attack the latter.
Jetavana or Jeta's Grove in Sravasti which was donated to Buddha by millionaire Sudatta or popularly known as Anathapindika or Feeder of the Poor ...
At a Burmese Monastery...
Performing Dana...
Saying a prayer beneath a Bod hi tree...
Traveling Tip: Liven up your traveling with ancient tales.
