Anathapindika ; born Sudatta, was a wealthy merchant, banker, and philanthropist, believed to have been the wealthiest merchant in Savatthi in the time of Gautama Buddha. He is considered to have been the chief male patron of the Buddha. Anathapindika founded the Jetavana Monastery in Savatthi, considered one of the two most important temples in the time of the historic Buddha, the other being Migāramātupāsāda.
Anathapindika covers Jetavana with coins (Bharhut, Brahmi text: jetavana ananthapindiko deti kotisanthatena keta
Anathapindika's great act of charity
Anathapindika Stupa or Sudatta Stupa in Sravasti (Savatthi)
Shravasti ; Pali: 𑀲𑀸𑀯𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀻, romanized: Sāvatthī) is a town in Shravasti district in Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. It was the capital of the ancient Indian kingdom of Kosala and the place where the Buddha lived most after his enlightenment. It is near the Rapti river in the northeastern part of Uttar Pradesh India, close to the Nepalese border.
A temple of Jain tirthankara Sambhavanatha, Shravasti
Procession of Prasenajit of Kosala leaving Sravasti to meet the Buddha. Sanchi.
Floor plan of one of the excavated ancient Shravasti monuments.
Inscribed life-sized Shravasti Bodhisattva statue found by Marshall and Sahni in 1910. The Hybrid Sanskrit text above is inscribed in 1st-century Brahmi script and 9th-century Nagari script. It is one of the many inscriptions that establish that Shravasti was an active Buddhist site till at least the 12th-century CE. The other notable part in this inscription is that two brothers declare themselves to be of kshatriya caste before making this gift of the Boddhisattva statue.
