The Visit of Indra to the Buddha in the Indrasaila cave near Rajagriha Sanchi Stupa 1Northern Gateway

The Indrasala Cave, also called Indrasila Guha or Indrasaila Cave, is a cave site mentioned in

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

texts. It is stated in Buddhist mythology to be the cave where

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

lived for a while, and gave the sermon called the ''Sakkapañha Sutta'' to deity

Indra Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes Indra is the m ...

. This ''Sutta'' is found as chapter II.21 of ''

Dīgha Nikāya The ''Dīgha Nikāya'' ("Collection of Long Discourses") is a Buddhist scriptures collection, the first of the five Nikāyas, or collections, in the Sutta Piṭaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipiṭaka of Th ...

''.; For one Theravada tradition translation of D II.21
Upalavanna

Legend

In the ''Sakkapañha Sutta'' sermon, the Buddha addresses Sakra (also known as

) accompanied by

Pancasikha Pancasikha (Sanskrit: ''Pañcaśikha''; Pali: ''Pañcasikha'') is a gandharva in the Buddhist pantheon. Character Pañcaśikha is the god who receives messages from the Four Heavenly Kings and their ministers regarding the deeds done in the hum ...

(also known as Kubera). After some harp-playing by Pancasikha, Indra asks 42 questions to the Buddha, which he answers. The teachings in this Indrasala Cave ''Sutta'' is, in part, the basis for the

Theravada ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhi ...

tradition of ''punna'' (earning merit) and'' varam'' (favor)''.''

Location

Buddhist texts mention the Indrasala Cave to be in the Vediya or Vediyaka mountain, to the north of Ambasanda, near

Rajagrha Rajgir, old name Rajagriha, meaning "The City of Kings," is an ancient city and university town in the Nalanda district of Bihar, India. It was the capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty, the Mauryan Empi ...

. Since the 19th century, many scholars had attempted to identify this hill and the location of the Indrasala Cave where Buddha lived.

Alexander Cunningham Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Sappers who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly crea ...

believed it to be in modern Giryak. More recently, a cave on the solitary hill in Parbati village (also known as Parwati or Parwatipur) in

Nawada Nawada is a town and a municipality in Bihar, India. It is also the Headquarters of the Nawada district. It is situated on both sides of the Khuri River at 24º 53’ N and 85º 33’ E. The name evolved from Nau-abad, meaning the new town. ...

has been proposed, which is situated north to the village of Apsarh (modern-day Ambasanda). According to Dr.Senarath Paranavithana in his book Inscription of Ceylon volume I Early brahmi inscriptions published in 1970 indicate that Indasala guha is located in Bambaragala Purana Rajamaha Vihara, Teldeniya,Kandy,Sri Lnaka.

Depictions

The visit is a scene in series showing the

life of Buddha in art Narrative images of episodes from the life of Gautama Buddha in art have been intermittently an important part of Buddhist art, often grouped into cycles, sometimes rather large ones. However, at many times and places, images of the Buddha in art ...

, though not one of the most common, especially after the first centuries of

Buddhist art Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes Buddha in art, depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas in art, Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, ...

. Numerous depictions of the scene are known, the earliest being those of the

Mahabodhi Temple The Mahabodhi Temple (literally: "Great Awakening Temple") or the Mahābodhi Mahāvihāra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an ancient, but restored Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, marking the location where the Buddha is said to hav ...

Bodh Gaya Bodh Gayā is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple complex, situated in the Gaya district in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place where Gautam ...

, circa 150 BCE. In a Gandhara artwork dated to 89 CE, the scene "Visit to the Indrasala Cave" is depicted with Indra identifiable with his elephant seated to the right, the Buddha is shown living in a cave by the wavy rocky landscape with wild animals above. According to Dr.Senarath Paranavithana in his book ''Inscription of Ceylon volume I Early brahmi inscriptions published in 1970'' indicate that Indasala guha is located at Bambaragala Purana Rajamaha Vihara, Teldeniya, kandy. About 19Km away from Kandy. There in the mountain have many caves and among one of which is a cave with early brahmi letters on the cave above ''indasala guha sagasa''. Dr.Senarath Paranavithana read it as The cave named indasala-guha is given to the Sangha. Indasala guha cave inscription

In the same book on page no.103 GLOSSARY Dr.Senarath Paranavithana Further express that ''Inda-sala, name of a cave in which the Buddha once dwelt.'' Indasala guha

File:Bodh Gaya Jataka medallion.jpg, Visit of Indra to the Indrasala cave. The Buddha is symbolized by his throne in the cave (

, circa 150 BCE). File:Indrasala Buddha with Indra, Mathura 50-100 CE.jpg, The same scene in a 50-100 CE relief,

Mathura art The Art of Mathura refers to a particular school of Indian art, almost entirely surviving Sculpture in the Indian subcontinent, in the form of sculpture, starting in the 2nd century BCE, which centered on the city of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, Mat ...

File:Indrasala cave, Loriyan Tangai.jpg, The same scene in a c. 2nd-century relief from Loriyan Tangai,

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

. The Buddha is shown in Indrasala cave. File:Cambogia, frontone con la visita di indra a buddha nella grotta d'indrasaila, da preah khan, stile di bayon, 1190-1210 ca..JPG, Indra visiting the Buddha in the Indrasala cave,

Preah Khan Preah Khan (; "Royal Sword") is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built in the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII to honor his father.Higham, C., 2014, Early Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok: River Books Co., Ltd., It is located northeast of Angk ...

, style of the

Bayon The Bayon (, ) ( ''BAI-on'') is a richly decorated Khmer temple related to Buddhism at Angkor in Cambodia. Built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the state temple of the King Jayavarman VII (), the Bayon stands at the centre of Jaya ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

, 1190-1210 CE.

References

{{Indian Buddhist Caves * Rock-cut architecture of India Gautama Buddha Indra

Legend

Location

Depictions

See also

References