In the traditional account, five hundred elders gather at Rajagaha in the first rains after the Buddha's death, where Ananda recites the discourses and Upali the discipline; the council fixes the teaching in communal memory, and the Theravada tradition counts its canon from this gathering.
Tagged: Councils Buddhist Theravada
The Event
- Date
- c. 483 BCE (traditional) (traditional)
- Also called
- First Buddhist Council
- Era
- Early Buddhism; Standard periodization of Buddhist history
- Location
- Rajagaha; today Rajgir, Bihar, India
- Traditions
- Buddhism
- Streams
- Theravada
- Key figures
- Mahakassapa, Ananda, Upali
- Key texts
- Cullavagga, chapters 11-12
Connections
- Life of the Buddha; followed
Primary Sources
- Cullavagga (Vinaya Pitaka)
Secondary Sources
- Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo (Routledge, 2nd ed. 2006)
- Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (Cambridge, 2nd ed. 2013)
Provenance: HIST-0402; confidence 0.8; accessed 2026-10-27.
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