Rajgir Kund

Rajgir Kund in Bihar state is a thermal site of extraordinary spiritual significance — the ancient capital of the Magadha kingdom, one of the great early states of the Indian subcontinent, where the Buddha Gautama spent multiple rainy seasons teaching, where the first Buddhist council was held after the Buddha's passing, and where Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, also taught. The sulphurous hot springs at Rajgir, which emerge at temperatures of 45°C from the Vaibhava Hill, are considered sacred by both Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims, who descend to the bathing pools via the Saptakarni cave complex. The springs flow into the Brahma Kund bathing tanks, where pilgrims have purified themselves continuously for 2,500 years. Rajgir's combination of volcanic thermal waters and profound world religious heritage makes it one of the most spiritually significant thermal sites in Asia.