In which city did the Buddha spend his last rainy season?

The Buddha spent his last rainy season near Vaishali, traditionally identified with the village of Beluva in Vaishali territory.

In the final period of his life, the Buddha travelled to Vaishali, an important city of the Licchavis and a longstanding center of his teaching. During this visit he announced that his death, or parinirvana, would occur within three months. He then entered his final vassa, the annual rainy-season retreat, at Beluva, a settlement near Vaishali.

The Buddha became seriously ill during that retreat but recovered sufficiently to continue his final journey. After the rains, he returned to Vaishali, looked back at the city for the last time, and proceeded northward through several towns before reaching Kusinara, where he died.

The wording can cause a minor geographic mix-up: the strict location named in the Pali tradition is Beluva, not the urban center itself. Because Beluva lay in Vaishali’s vicinity and traditional summaries describe the retreat as being at Vaishali, “Vaishali” is the standard quiz answer. Savatthi was also important, but most of the Buddha’s later rainy seasons there were not his final one.