This
village is on the site of what was once a very large and
important Buddhist monastery, probably the Kapotaka Vihara
visited by Hiuen Tsiang. Just outside the village and besides
the lake is a fine Buddha statue nearly 10 feet high calved
out of shiny black stone. The temple in the village of Tetrawan,
a few kilometres to the south contains an astonishing collection
of beautifully calved Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
To get to Ghosrawan go south from Rajgir to the Hisua and
then turn left to Nawada where there is a rundown museum
with a small collection of Buddha statues found in the area.
It
is open from 10 am to 5 pm and closed on Monday. From there
head north to Pawapuri, the birth place of Mahavira, known
in the Tipitaka as Nigantha Nataputta, where there is a
beautiful temple in the middle of a lotus lake.
If
you need accommodation you can stay in the Jain pilgrims'
rest. At Pawapuri ask for directions to Ghosrawan. It is
about 5 kilometres away over very bad roads.
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