Saptaparni Cave

Saptaparni Cave, whose name means seven-leaves cave, is cut into a hill about 2 km southwest of Rajgir in Bihar. It holds a special place in Buddhist tradition: many believe the Buddha stayed here for a time before his death, and that the first Buddhist council met here soon after his passing.

According to the tradition preserved in the Vinaya Pitaka and Digha Nikaya, several hundred monks gathered at the cave and chose Ananda, the Buddha's cousin, and Upali to compile his teachings, which the Buddha himself had never written down. Ananda recited the discourses from memory, beginning each with the words Thus have I heard, while Upali recited the rules of monastic discipline. For pilgrims the cave marks the point where the Buddha's words began their journey as a shared oral canon.