The Barabar caves near Gaya, the oldest rock cut caves in India, were made for which sect?
- A.Ajivika
- B.Mahasanghika
- C.Digambara Jain
- D.Shaiva
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Ajivika. The Barabar group, which includes the Lomas Rishi and Sudama caves, was cut in granite in the Mauryan age for the monks of the Ajivika sect founded by Makkhali Gosala, and the inscriptions of Ashoka's grandson Dasharatha in the nearby Nagarjuni caves record further gifts to them. The polished interiors and the imitation of a wooden gable on the Lomas Rishi doorway are the features usually described.
Option B, the Mahasanghika, was a Buddhist school formed after the second council and has no connection with these caves. Option C, the Digambara Jains, have their own cave groups, such as those at Udayagiri in Odisha. Option D, Shaiva worship, appears at Barabar only in later centuries. The Ajivikas were a contemporary of Buddhism and Jainism that died out, and this is the main question asked about them.
Read the full article: Buddhism and Jainism in Bihar: Sites and Councils
Practice Questions
View allThe Buddha attained enlightenment at which place in present day Bihar?
- A.Rajgir
- B.Bodh Gaya
- C.Vaishali
- D.Pataliputra
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Gautama attained enlightenment at Uruvela, the Bodh Gaya of today, under a peepal tree on the bank of the Niranjana river, which is called the Phalgu now.
Read the full explanation →The term Tripitakas in Buddhism means three
- A.baskets
- B.houses
- C.roads
- D.trees
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Tripitaka is a Pali and Sanskrit word in which pitaka means a basket, so the whole means three baskets, a name that came from the practice of keeping the palm leaf manuscripts of each collection in a separate basket.
Read the full explanation →The first Buddhist council was held at which place?
- A.Vaishali
- B.Pataliputra
- C.Rajgriha
- D.Kundalvana
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The first Buddhist council met at Rajgriha, the Rajgir of today, in the Saptaparni cave soon after the Buddha's death, under the patronage of king Ajatashatru and the presidency of Mahakassapa.
Read the full explanation →Mahavira, the twenty fourth Jain tirthankara, attained nirvana at
- A.Pavapuri
- B.Kundagrama
- C.Sammed Shikhar
- D.Rajgriha
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Mahavira attained nirvana at Pavapuri in the present Nalanda district of Bihar at the age of seventy two, traditionally in 527 BCE, and the Jal Mandir, a marble temple standing in the middle of a tank, marks the place of his cremation.
Read the full explanation →The third Buddhist council was held at Pataliputra under the patronage of
- A.Ajatashatru
- B.Kalashoka
- C.Ashoka
- D.Kanishka
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The third council met at Pataliputra in the reign of Ashoka, with Moggaliputta Tissa presiding.
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