This is Ananda’s sadhana cave in an ancient site where Buddha gave sermon to the monks. There is a place to sit and meditate. You can go into meditative states here effortlessly.
How to Get there
From Rajgir, you can take a horse tonga to the base of Gridhakuta hill, then take maximum 30 mins hike to the hill. This is the first cave you will encounter while going towards Vulture Cave.
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/XFFPAJNGSfF7xJhdA
About Ananda
Ananda was born in Kapilavatthu and was the Buddha’s cousin, being the son of Amitodana, the brother of the Buddha’s father, Suddhodana. It was during the Buddha’s first trip back to Kapilavatthu after his enlightenment that Ananda, along with his brother Anuruddha and his cousin Devadatta, became a monk. He proved to be a willing and diligent student and within a year he became a Stream-Winner. The monk’s life gave Ananda great happiness and his quiet, unassuming nature meant that he was little noticed by the others until he was selected to be the Buddha’s personal attendant. While some people develop the qualities that lead to enlightenment through meditation or study, Ananda did it through the love and concern he had for others. Just before the Buddha attained final Nirvana, Ananda began to cry, saying to himself: “Alas, I am still a learner with much still to do. And the teacher is passing away, he who was so compassionate to me.” The Buddha called Ananda into his presence and reassured him that he had developed his mind to a very high degree through his selflessness and love and that if he made just a bit more effort he too would attain enlightenment.
Ananda’s selflessness expressed itself in three ways – through his service to the Buddha, through his unstinting kindness to his fellow disciples, both ordained and lay, and also to future generations through the crucial role he had to play in the preservation and transmission of the Dharma.
About Gautam Buddha’s Vulture Peak, Gridhakuta Hill
This is one of the most ancient sites where the Buddha is said to have preached his Lotus Sermon. Quite true to the meaning of its name as Vulture Peak indeed the peak appears as a shape of vulture head with a natural stone formation. The place is also referred as “Gujjhakut” in Buddhist text. One of the most ancient sites where the Buddha is said to have preached his Lotus Sermon was amongst the favorite meditating place of the Buddha. Even today one can feel the deep sense of spiritual power at the peak that is devoid of any man-made grandeur. A statue of the Buddha (600 BCE) was found here and currently housed at Archeological Museum of Nalanda.
During the Buddha’s time Rajgir, then known as Rajagaha, was the capital of Magadha and the largest city in north India. Spread out over a fairly wide area you will find the cool and shady Bamboo Grove, Devadatta’s Cave at Makdum Kund, the Sattapanna Cave where the First Council was held, Jivaka’s Mango Grove, Ajatasattu’s stupa, the Pipphili Cave where Maha Kassapa liked to stay and the Boar’s Grotto where Sariputta was enlightened, to name but a few.
Source
https://bodhi.travel/blog/rajgir-and-vulture-peak
https://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/pilgrim/pg_23.htm
https://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhism/disciples09.htm
