*/Nalanda Nland was an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar, India.

[1] The site is located about 88 kilo etres south east of !atna, and was a religious center of learning fro the fifth centur" #$ to 11%& #$.['][(] Nalanda flourished between the reign of the )akr*dit"a +whose identit" is uncertain and who ight ha,e been either -u ara .u/ta I or -u ara .u/ta II0 and 11%& #$, su//orted b" /atronage fro the 1indu.u/ta rulers as well as Buddhist e /erors like 1arsha and later e /erors fro the!ala 2 /ire.[3] The co /le4 was built with red bricks and its ruins occu/" an area of 13 hectares. +388 b" '33 etres0 [5] #t its /eak, the uni,ersit" attracted scholars and students fro as far awa" as Tibet, 6hina, .reece, and !ersia.[7] Nalanda was ransacked and destro"ed b" a Turkish 8usli ar " under Bakhti"ar -hil9i in 11%(. The great librar" of Nalanda :ni,ersit" was so ,ast that it is re/orted to ha,e burned for three onths after the in,aders set fire to it, ransacked and destro"ed the onasteries, and dro,e the onks fro the site. In ';;7, <inga/ore, 6hina, India, =a/an, and other nations, announced a /ro/osed /lan to restore and re,i,e the ancient site as Nalanda International :ni,ersit". Contents [show] 1istor"[edit] >e/lica of the seal of Nalanda :ni,ersit" set in terracotta on dis/la" in the #<I8useu in Nalanda History of the university and the Gupta heyday[edit] <o e historical studies suggest that the :ni,ersit" of Nalanda was established during the reign of a king called )akr*dit"a, of the .u/ta $"nast".[&] Both ?uan@ang and !ra9Aa,ar an cite hi as the founder, as does a seal disco,ered at the site.[3] #s historian <uku ar $utt describes it, the histor" of Nalanda uni,ersit" Bfalls into two ain di,isionsCfirst, one of growth, de,elo/ ent and fruition fro the si4th centur" to the ninth, when it was do inated b" the liberal cultural traditions inherited fro the .u/ta ageD the second, one of gradual decline and final dissolution fro the ninth centur" to the thirteen Ca /eriod when the tantric de,elo/ ents of Buddhis beca e ost /ronounced in eastern India.B [8] Ehen Fi9ing, 6hinese Buddhist, ,isited Nalanda in 7&(G7%5, there were eight colleges, ha,ing as an" as (;; roo s. [%] Nalanda in the Pla era[edit] #,alokiteH,ara Bodhisatt,a.Aashasrik Prajpramit Stra anuscri/t. N*land*, !*la /eriod # nu ber of onasteries grew u/ during the !*la /eriod in ancient Bengal and 8agadha. #ccording to Tibetan sources, fi,e great 8aha,iharas stood outIJikra ashila, the /re ier uni,ersit" of the eraD Nalanda, /ast its /ri e but still illustrious, <o a/ura, Kdanta/ur*, and =aggadala.[1;] The fi,e onasteries for ed a networkD Ball of the were under state su/er,isionB and there e4isted Ba s"ste of coLordination a ong the . . it see s fro the e,idence that the different seats of Buddhist learning that functioned in eastern India under the !*la were regarded together as for ing a network, an interlinked grou/ of institutions,B and it was co on for great scholars to o,e easil" fro /osition to /osition a ong the .[11] $uring the !*l* /eriod, the N*l*nda was less singularl" outstanding, as other !*la establish ents B ust ha,e drawn awa" a nu ber of learned onks fro N*l*nda when all of the ... ca e under the aegis of the !*l*s.B [8] Decline and end[edit] 2,idence in literature suggests that in 11%(, the Nalanda :ni,ersit" was sacked b" [1']Bakhti"ar -hil9i, a Turk.[1(] The !ersian historian 8inha9LiL<ira9, in his chronicle the Tabaqat-I-Nasiri, re/orted that thousands of onks were burned ali,e and thousands beheaded as -hil9i tried his best to u/root Buddhis . The burning of the librar" continued for se,eral onths and Bs oke fro the burning anuscri/ts hung for da"s like a dark /all o,er the low hills.B [13] The last throneLholder of Nalanda, <hak"ashribhadra, fled to Tibet in 1';3 at the in,itation of the Tibetan translator Tro/u Motsawa +Khro-phu Lo-tsa-ba Byams-pa dpal0. In Tibet, he started an ordination lineage of the 8ulasar,asti,ada lineage to co /le ent the two e4isting ones. Ehen the Tibetan translator 6hag Motsawa + ha! Lo-tsa-ba, 11%&G1'730 ,isited the site in 1'(5, he found it da aged and looted, with a %;L"earLold teacher, >ahula <hribhadra, instructing a class of about &; students. [15][17] $uring 6hag MotsawaNs ti e there an incursion b" Turkic soldiers caused the re aining students to flee. $es/ite all this, Bre nants of the debilitated Buddhist co unit" continued to struggle on under scarce resources until c. 13;; when 6hagalara9a was re/ortedl" the last king to ha,e /atroni@ed Nalanda.B [1&] $.6. #hir considers the destruction of the te /les, onasteries, centres of learning at Nalanda and northern India to be res/onsible for the de ise of ancient Indian scientific thought in athe atics, astrono ", alche ", and anato ". [18] K,er,iew[edit] Nalanda was one of the worldNs first residential uni,ersities, i.e., it had dor itories for students. It is also one of the ost fa ous uni,ersities. In its he"da", it acco odated o,er 1;,;;; students and ',;;; teachers. 6hinese /ilgri s esti ated the students between (,;;; and 5,;;;.[1%] The uni,ersit" was considered an architectural aster/iece, and was arked b" a loft" wall and one gate. Nalanda had eight se/arate co /ounds and ten te /les, along with an" other editation halls and classroo s. Kn the grounds were lakes and /arks. The librar" was located in a nine storied building where eticulous co/ies of te4ts were /roduced. The sub9ects taught at Nalanda :ni,ersit" co,ered e,er" field of learning, and it attracted /u/ils and scholars fro -orea, =a/an, 6hina, Tibet, Indonesia, !ersia and Turke". [(] $uring the /eriod of 1arsha, the onaster" is re/orted to ha,e owned ';; ,illages gi,en as grants. The Tang $"nast" 6hinese /ilgri ?uan@ang left detailed accounts of the uni,ersit" in the &th centur". 1e described how the regularl" laidLout towers, forest of /a,ilions, har ikas and te /les see ed to Bsoar abo,e the ists in the sk"B so that fro their cells the onks B ight witness the birth of the winds and clouds.B [';] The /ilgri statesI B#n a@ure /ool winds

around the onasteries, adorned with the fullLblown cu/s of the blue lotusD the da@@ling red flowers of the lo,el" kanaka hang here and there, and outside gro,es of ango trees offer the inhabitants their dense and /rotecti,e shade.B ['1] The entrance of an" of the ,iharas in the Nalanda :ni,ersit" ruins can be seen with a bow arked floorD the bow was the ro"al sign of the .u/tas. Libraries[edit] Stru"tur# The librar" at Nalanda :ni,ersit" was an i ense co /le4. 6alled the $har agan9a, or !iet" 8art, it was se/arated into three large buildingsI the >atnasagara, the >atnadadhi, and the >atnaran9aka. The >atnadadhi, eaning the Kcean of .e s, was nine stories high and housed the ost sacred anuscri/ts including the !ra9na/ara ita <utra and the <a a9guh"a.[''] The towers were su//osedl" i ense, be9ewelled and gilded to reflect the ra"s of the sun. ['(] #ccording to the Bhaskara Samhita, an ancient te4t on organi@ational /ractices, the librar" was to be built in a Ofinel" built stone buildingP and each anuscri/t would ha,e been /laced on iron shel,es or stack and co,ered with cloth and tied u/. Qurther ore, the librarian in charge, according to the te4t, was not onl" res/onsible for aintaining the aterials but also for guiding readers in their studies['3] The e4act nu ber of ,olu es of the Nalanda :ni,ersit" Mibrar" is not known but it is esti ated to ha,e been in the hundreds of thousands. ['5] The librar" not onl" collected religious anuscri/ts but also had te4ts on such sub9ects as gra ar, logic, literature, astrolog", astrono ", and edicine ['7] lassi$i"atio% It is clear that Nalanda :ni,ersit" librar" had a classification sche e ['&] which was /ossibl" based on a te4t classification sche e de,elo/ed b" the great <anskrit linguist !anini. ['8] Buddhists te4ts were ost likel" di,ided in three classes based on the Tri/itakaRs three ain di,isionsI the Jina"a, <utra, and the #bhida a. ['%] Mike ost other Indian ancient and edie,al /eriod libraries, Nalanda would ha,e used a basic catalogue to hel/ /atrons find aterials. This bibliogra/h", or #nuka anikas, would ha,e listed the books b" h" ns, authors, for of sutras, >ishiRs na e, and the h" nal etre.[(;] &#stru"tio% The librar" was destro"ed in 11%&G1';( during the 8usli in,asion in which Bakhti"ar -hal9i sacked it and set it to fla es.[(1] #ccording to Tibetan legend, the uni,ersit" and librar" were re/ortedl" re/aired shortl" after b" 8uditabhadra, a Buddhist sage. :nfortunatel", the librar" was again burned b" Tirthaka endicants.[('] Curriculum[edit] The co /le4 co,ered an area between 388 b" '33 etres. [5] In Nalanda uni,ersit",the Tibetan tradition holds that there were Bfour do4ogra/hiesB +TibetanI!rub-mtha'0 which were taught at N*land*, and #le4ander Ber@in s/ecifies these asI[((] 1. <ar,*sti,*da Jaibh*ika '. <ar,*sti,*da <autr*ntika (. 8*dh"a aka, the 8ah*"*na /hiloso/h" of N*g*r9una 4. 6itta atra, the 8ah*"*na /hiloso/h" of #saga and Jasubandhu #ccording to an unattributed article of the $har a Qellowshi/ +';;50, the curriculu of Nalanda :ni,ersit" at the ti e of 8aA9uHrS itra containedI ...,irtuall" the entire range of world knowledge then a,ailable. 6ourses were drawn fro e,er" field of learning, Buddhist and 1indu, sacred and secular, foreign and nati,e. <tudents studied science, astrono ", edicine, and logic as diligentl" as the" a//lied the sel,es to eta/h"sics, /hiloso/h", <a kh"a, FogaLshastra, the Jeda, and the scri/tures of Buddhis . The" studied foreign /hiloso/h" likewise. In the &th centur", ?uan@ang records the nu ber of teachers at N*land* as being around 151;. [(3] Kf these, a//ro4i atel" 1;;; were able to e4/lain '; collections of sTtras and H*stras, 5;; were able to e4/lain (; collections, and onl" 1; teachers were able to e4/lain 5; collections.[(3] ?uan@ang was a ong the few who were able to e4/lain 5; collections or ore.[(3] #t this ti e, onl" the abbot )Slabhadra had studied all the a9or collections of sTtras and H*stras at N*land*.[(3] The 6hinese onk Fi9ing wrote that atters of discussion and ad inistration at N*land* would reUuire asse bl" and consensus on decisions b" all those at the asse bl", as well as resident onksI [(5] If the onks had so e business, the" would asse ble to discuss the atter. Then the" ordered the officer, Jih*ra/*la, to circulate and re/ort the atter to the resident onks one b" one with folded hands. Eith the ob9ection of a single onk, it would not /ass. There was no use of beating or thu /ing to announce his case. In case a onk did so ething without consent of all the residents, he would be forced to lea,e the onaster". If there was a difference of o/inion on a certain issue, the" would gi,e reason to con,ince +the other grou/0. No force or coercion was used to con,ince. ?uan@ang also writesI BThe li,es of all these ,irtuous en were naturall" go,erned b" habits of the ost sole n and strictest kind. Thus in the se,en hundred "ears of the onaster"Ns e4istence no an has e,er contra,ened the rules of the disci/line. The king showers it with the signs of his res/ect and ,eneration and has assigned the re,enue fro a hundred cities to /a" for the aintenance of the religious.B ['1] Influence on Buddhism[edit] # ,ast a ount of what ca e to co /rise Tibetan Buddhis , both its 8aha"ana and Ja9ra"ana traditions, ste s fro the late +%thG1'th centur"0 Nalanda teachers and traditions. The scholar $har akirti +ca. &th centur"0, one of the Buddhist founders of Indian /hiloso/hicallogic, as well as and one of the /ri ar" theorists of Buddhist ato is , taught at Nalanda. Kther for s of Buddhis , such as the 8ah*"*na Buddhis followed in Jietna , 6hina, -orea and =a/an, flourished within the walls of the ancient uni,ersit". # nu ber of scholars ha,e associated so e 8ah*"*na te4ts such as the (ra!ama Stra, an i /ortant sTtra in 2ast #sian Buddhis , with the Buddhist tradition at N*land*. [(7][(&] >on 2/stein also notes that the general doctrinal /osition of the sTtra does indeed corres/ond to what is known about the Buddhist teachings at N*land* toward the end of the .u/ta /eriod when it was translated. [(8] #ccording to 1wuiLMi, a 6hinese ,isitor, N*land* was held in conte /t b" so e <tha,iras for its e /hasis on 8aha"ana /hiloso/h". The" re/ortedl" chided -ing 1ara for /atronising Nalanda during one of his ,isits to Kdisha, ocking the Bsk"LflowerB /hiloso/h" taught there and suggesting that he ight as well /atronise a -a/alika te /le.[(%] Ehen this

occurred, 1ara notified the chancellor of N*land*, who sent the ?uan@ang to refute the ,iews of the onks fro Kdisha. [3;] >ear ,iew of <ari/uttaNs stu/a. 24ca,ations[edit]

onks <*gara ati, !ra9A*raH i, <i haraH i, and

# /age fro the )r#at Ta%! *#"ords o% th# +#st#r% *#!io%s, a te4t widel" used for its accurate descri/tions of &th centur" India 24ca,ations conducted b" #rchaeological <ur,e" of India during 1%15G(& and 1%&3G8' ha,e e4/osed the e4tensi,e re ains of si4 a9or brick te /les and ele,en onasteries arranged on a s"ste atic la"out and s/read o,er an area of ore than a sUuare kilo etre. Basicall" a hundred feet wide /assage runs northLsouth with the row of te /les on the west and that of the onasteries on the east of it. The onasteries are Uuite identical in general la"out and a//earance. 6entral court"ard, row of cells all around with a co on ,erandah, a secret cha ber for kee/ing ,aluables, staircase for going to u//er stories, kitchen, well, granar", single entrance and co on /lace for /ra"er or eeting etc. are so e characteristic features of al ost all the onasteries at Nalanda. The ain te /le site ( is the largest and ost i /osing structure at southern e4tre it" of the row of te /les and is surrounded b" ,oti,e stu/as. Kriginall" it had four corner towers out of which two are in e4istence and decorated with rows of niches containing beautiful stucco i ages of Buddha and Bodhisatt,as which are fine s/eci ens of .u/ta art. # te /le different in character and not confor ing to the general la"out of the re ains is re/resented b" te /le site '. The interesting feature of this te /le is the dado of two hundred and ele,en scul/tured /anels o,er the oulded /linth. #nother ound called N<arai TilaN ,er" close to the onaster" co /le4 has re,ealed ruins of a te /le with urals and feet /ortion of a colossal stucco i age of Mord Buddha. Kther than structures, the e4ca,ations ha,e unearthed an" scul/tures and i ages in stone, bron@e and stucco. <ignificant a ong the Buddhist scul/tures are Buddha in different /ostures, #,alokites,ara, 8an9usri, Tara, !ra9na/ara ita, 8arichi, =a bhala etc. and a few i ages are of Brah anical deities like Jishnu, <i,aL!ar,ati, 8ahishasuraL ardini, .anesa, <ur"a etc. Kther noteworth" disco,eries of e4ca,ations include the urals, co//er /lates, inscri/tions, sealings, /laUues, coins, terracottas, /otteries etc. The antiUuities ha,e been e4hibited for the ,isitors in the site useu aintained b" the #rchaeological <ur,e" of India. >uins[edit] The seal of Nalanda University set in terracottaon dis/la" in the #<I 8useu in Nalanda The re nants of the librar" of Nalanda :ni,ersit" which is re/orted to ha,e burned for three onths after the in,aders set fire to it, ransacked and destro"ed the onasteries, and dro,e the onks fro the site. # nu ber of ruined structures sur,i,e. Nearb" is the <ur"a 8andir, a 1indu te /le. The known and e4ca,ated ruins e4tend o,er an area of about 15;,;;; sUuare etres, although if ?uan@angNs account of NalandaNs e4tent is correlated with /resent e4ca,ations, al ost %;V of it re ains une4ca,ated. N*land* is no longer inhabited. Toda" the nearest habitation is a ,illage called Bargaon. In 1%51, a odern centre for !ali +Thera,adin0 Buddhist studies was founded nearb" b" Bhikshu =agdish -ash"a/, the Na,a Nalanda 8aha,ihara.[31] !resentl", this institute is /ursuing an a bitious /rogra of satellite i aging of the entire region. The Nalanda 8useu contains a nu ber of anuscri/ts, and shows an" e4a /les of the ite s that ha,e been e4ca,ated. IndiaNs first 8ulti edia 8useu was o/ened on '7 =anuar" ';;8, which recreates the histor" of Nalanda using a ($ ani ation fil narrated b" <hekhar <u an. Besides this there are four ore sections in the 8ulti edia 8useu I .eogra/hical !ers/ecti,e, 1istorical !ers/ecti,e, 1all of Nalanda and >e,i,al of Nalanda.