On my visit I discovered that Rajgir, just 10 kms from Nalanda, is a rich treasure trove of significant Buddhist sites. It was here that Buddha delivered some of his famous sermons and converted the mighty Bimbisara, king of Magadha, and countless others to his new found faith.

The aerial chairlift to the “Griddhakuta Peak” was full of fun.This was the place where the Lord Buddha set in motion his second wheel of Law and for three months every year during the rainy season, preached many inspiring sermons to his disciples. The hilltop is adorned by the “Peace Pagoda”, a colossal modern stupa, constructed by the Buddha Sangha of Japan.

I visited the “Jivaka’s Mango Garden” and “Venuvana”. While the former is the site of the royal physician's dispensary where the Lord Buddha was once brought to have wound dressed by Jivaka, the royal physician during the reign of Ajatashatru and Bimbisara, the latter hosted the monastery, Venuvana Vihar, built by king Bimbisara for Lord Buddha to reside.

I must mention my visit to the rather quaint “Swarna Bhandar”, the treasury of Bimbisara. The two cave chambers were hollowed out of a single massive rock. One of the chambers is believed to have been the guard room, the rear wall has two straight vertical lines and one horizontal line cut into the rock; this 'doorway' is supposed to lead to the king’s treasury which, according to folklore, is still intact.

I also enjoyed a dip at one of the water springs at the foot of the Vaibhava Hill and the experience was more than fabulous. The springs are filled with water coming through spouts from Saptdhara, the seven streams, believed to find their source behind the "Saptaparni Caves", up in the hills.

Other archaeological sites which fascinated me were the Karnada Tank, where Lord Buddha used to bathe, the Maniyar Math that dates from the 1st century AD, the Maraka Kukshi where the still unborn Ajatashatru was cursed as a patricide and the battlefield where Bhima and Jarasandh fought one of the Mahabharat battles.

Words escape me when I try to delineate my experiences of Rajgir- it was incredible!